Legend of Korra: Book 0: TimeSpace
by Exigence
Summary: [Reboot of Legend of Korra: Not in Time] Korra is transported to Ba Sing Se approx. 70 years into the past. Sent by a mysterious stranger, she is tasked with defeating the Chaos Spirit, Hundun, who wants to control time to destroy the Avatar Cycle. Korra's presence will change the fate of friends and foes alike.
1. Chapter 1 - Initiation

Korra punched the metal wall in front of her, an angry well of emotion springing from her lips in the form of a shout. She nearly threw her voice from how raw her scream was.

The wall did not submit to her strength.

She punched again, this time with her opposite fist. It ended up hurting more than the first attempt.

"Tarlokk!" her voice cracked at the end, desparation threatening to seep into it.

She threw more strikes at the wall, each successive one more ineffectual than the last. At this point, her 'punches' were no more than mere taps, the explosive energy from before all but gone. She began to collapse to the floor down to her knees, the metal cage just barely wide enough to accomodate her kneeling position.

Tarlokk really left her in this box. After all of that work put in in shutting down the Equalists. The raids, the warehouse ambushes. She was seen as nothing but a tool to be locked away, the key thrown away and forgotten the moment she stepped out of line. Mako and Lin were right...she shouldn't have so readily trusted the slimy politician.

It seemed to her that she was a natural at making bad calls.

"Don't leave me in here..." Korra whispered, ashamed at how pathetic she sounded. Her eyes were shut, forcing back angry tears that threatened to spill. She swung her fists at the wall again.

She could barely hear the light _tap taps _anymore from her hands.

"rra..."

...

"Korra."

Korra hadn't known how much time had passed. It felt like it might have been hours, but it could have easily been much longer than that. She had folded in on herself as much as she could to try to get some rest, and time slipped away from her.

"Korra."

Korra only exhaled tiredly as a sign of acknowledgement. Perhaps she was growing delirious and was now hearing voices.

"Korra," the voice repeated. It sounded like it came from someone she should know. "This is no delusion."

"Tenzin..?" Korra ventured. She still had her eyes closed, something in the back of her mind keeping her from opening them. Maybe, she thought, if she opened her eyes, she'd be yanked from her escape fantasy of talking to voices in her head. She tried to settle back into merciful sleep.

Oddly enough, the voice seemed to sigh.

"Even my own figments of my imagination are tired of me," she whispered to herself.

Then she felt a hand on her shoulder.

Flinching violently, she bolted upright, eyes snapping open.

"What the..." Korra was at a loss for words as she looked around herself.

The cage was gone. Perhaps she _had _gone insane.

Her surroundings were nothing but a mish-mash of pale bluish and white colors seeming to meld together into no real discernible pattern.

What was all this?

The Avatar slowly stood up, her arms outstretched, as if afraid her head would collide with some invisible barrier and shatter the illusion. To her confusion, no resistance came.

Was this real? Korra was uncomfortable with the fact that she wasn't sure. She took cautious steps in randkm directions, testing the space in front of her.

"I've finally been able to contact you," a voice said from behind her.

"..!" She whirled around, arms raised. Her right arm was cocked backwards, ready to unleash a torrent of flame. Then she hesitated.

The figure in front of her had his arms at rest at his sides. He was standing non-aggressively, patiently waiting for something. Korra took a tentative two steps backwards.

"Who are you? How did I get here? What _is _here?" Her questions came rapid fire, and she was thrown off by the fact that she couldn't make out the stranger's face, or his attire for that matter. Not the 'I don't recognize you' can't make out your face. It was the 'Your face looks just blurry enough' can't make out your face. Every time.e Korra tried to squint, the man's face would go out of focus, as if she were trying to look past him and not _at _him.

The stranger noticed her straining. "It's okay, my face isn't important right now," the man explained. "It might be that you aren't attuned enough to the Spirit World yet."

"It's like i'm trying to look at you while cross eyed," Korra replied, rubbing her temple. "It's annoying." The sensation wouldn't go away, and no matter what she did, the man always looked blurry. She paused.

"Did you say 'Spirit World'?"

The stranger nodded. "Korra, I need your help."

The man's tone was suddenly more urgent than before. "A malevolent entity is sowing chaos in the Spirit World. He's managed to somehow manipulate the flow of time-."

"How can I trust you" Korra interrupted, again attempting to strain her eyes to see who she was talking to. She shook her head. "Manipulating time," she nearly snorted. "The type of stories I'd expect from mad scientists."

A pause. "I don't expect you to believe me. I would not insult your intelligence like that. But the problem is all too real."

He walked forward, coming to a stop once he'd just stepped past her, encouraging Korra to turn around to keep him in view.

"The Spirit of the Chaotic Attack is attempting to end the Avatar cycle permanently."

Korra had no retort, except to run the name in her head.

Sounded like a sports team, or a Pro-bending technique.

"They go by many names..."

Korra raised a brow. "They?"

Her acquaintance only nodded. "It's not really one person. "Even I don't have all the details...Anyway," he shook his head, getting back on topic. "Their most common name is Hundun. You need to stop them from manipulating time to end the Avatar Cycle. By tampering with the flow of history..." the stranger paused. "Well, I'm sure you could guess the ramifications."

Korra glanced around the white-blue space of nothingness. Of course she could guess. Things would happen that shouldn't, people supposed to be alive would be dead, things that didn't exist, would, vice versa...

"This sounds utterly ridiculous," Korra admitted aloud.

"I know."

Korra watched him warily. The man did nothing but turn around to regard her.

"Why can't _you_ stop this Hundun?"

"I've tried," the stranger conceded, some unexplained pain evident in his voice. "But I am tethered to the Spirit World. After Harmonic Convergence, they are able to travel freely between both the Spirit and Physical planes."

"Any time I am able to confront them, they'd always slip away from me."

Korra blinked at the unfamiliar terminology. "What's a harmonic convergence?"

The stranger turned around again, head low. "You weren't supposed to know about that yet..." he admitted after a pregnant pause. He turned his head in her direction. "Just know that it will take two living Avatars to take him down. Seek out the Last Airbender. The both of you together stand more than a chance."

Korra shook her head. Last airbender? Two Avatars? She was more confused than ever. "Are you talking about Tenzin? I mean he's not the _only_ Airbender-"

"It's time for you to wake up," the man interrupted.

"Wait-"

Suddenly the space they were standing in seemed to fade out of existence, however possible that was for what already looked like a vast expanse of nothingness.

"How do I contact you again?!" she managed to ask. Her surroundings were beginning to fade, distort, and blur all at once.

The man seemed to vanish with the space, but his voice persisted.

"I'll be easier to find than you think."

Korra swore she could imagine hkm winking.

Korra opened her eyes, half expecting to be back in the cage, and that the past few moments were the result of a manic episode born from depression.

She was on her back, sprawled on grass and dirt. Thankfully, it wasn't wet, sparing her of any serious stains on her ocean blue top and her parka that was tied around her waist.

Slowly, she attempted to get up, a groan escaping from her at the feeling of soreness in her left shoulder. It felt like she'd crashed into it. She looked up from the ground, only for a gasp to escape frk. her.

"Woah..." Nevermind the odd discovery of laying on grass. What waited to meet her eyes were structures of varying sizes...Houses, towers, shops...

There were people everywhere and the sheer scale of the city seemed to dwarf Republic City. What struck her as odd was the clothing everyone she saw were wearing. Everything looked...traditional, for lack of a better word. There were even old-looking carriages being pulled by horses. And they were _everywhere._

"Ba Sing Se..." she murmured, looking in every direction, amazement evident on her features. Everything was too derailed and...authentic to be some imagination of her mind. And people were starting to stare.

Clearing her throat, she stood up, dusting herself off.

"So this is probably real," Korra said to herself. She stepped to the side as a horse passed by, pulling a large cart full of cabbages. The horse's rider looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place where. She shook her head of the notion. If she was indeed in what she guessed was the past, she needed to find this Hundun character. The guy had said he or she or it or _whatever_ could travel through the Spirit World at will, though.

And she had no idea how to get to the Spirit World!

"Some help that hack was!" she scoffed. She decided it was time to start walking and figure something out. She figured shock hadn't set in yet and she could worry about spazzing out later. She had no method to getting home, but she had a goal now, no matter how unreachable it was at the moment. It was something.

Anything to take her mind away from that metal box.

On a whim, she opened her palm, and fire burst to life in her hand. She snuffed it out as quickly as she'd formed it.

Good, her bending still worked. That was a good start as any.

So what would her first stop be? She was out of her element, figuratively speaking. She had no leads, and right now, no allies. Her thoughts briefly turned to Mako and Bolin, wishing one of them were here right now.

"I still feel like I'm going to wake up and this is all some elaborate fever dream," she sighed, briefly examining each house she passed by. Civillians paid her no mind, and she soon realized the crowd was beginning to thin as she entered into what seemed to be a residential district. She almost hoped all this _was _real. Anything to keep her mindnoff of things.

Really dark thoughts concerning Tarlokk flitted through her mind, but she squashed them. She needed to focus on the here and now.

At this point, the road seemed to be abandoned. Although it might have been a bit unwarranted, she felt uneasy, as if someone was watching her every move. She stopped briefly to look behind her, but noticed nothing. She shrugged and moved on.

She'd been walking for nearly twenty minutes now, and she seriously contemplated collapsing and going back to sleep when she heard muffles shouting.

It probably wouldn't lead to anything, but it was better than nothing, right?

Jogging down another block, she turned a corner just in time to see some lady catchjng an earful from some person she couldn't see.

"You should just stay out of our way!" came the disembodied voice. The door slammed heavily and with finality in front of the woman's face. The lady quickly turned and headed into the inner city, passing by Korra. The poor woman looked on the verge of tears.

"Nice neighborhood..." Korra watched the person's retreating form, debating whether she should knock on the recently slammed door. They might have some idea of where to find a store or shop that could give her some leads.

"Well, here goes..." she approached the house, hoping this step could help begin to make sense of everything that was happening.


	2. Chapter 2 - Welcome to Team Avatar

Korra knocked on the door, studying the scenery disinterestedly.

The houses here were made of stone, topped with green painted roofs, also made of some rocky material. The neighborhood really did look beautiful, but there was not a soul walking the streets. It was strange, the sun was still high in the sky.

She almost wasn't prepared for the door opening. "I TOLD YOU-", the resident cut himself off at her reaction. "Sorry," the young man inclined his head. "Thought you were someone else."

"Hey, no problem," Korra said quickly. "Sounds like you're haa-," the Avatar suddenly paused, her eyes widening. "Aang?" Immediately, her attention was drawn to the blue tattoo on the monk's head, ending in an arrow on his forehead. Not to mention, it'd be hard to miss the flying lemur resting on his shoulders, the animal watching Korra curiously, head cocked to the side.

The boy in question blinked, thinly veiled suspicion clouding his otherwise amicable expression. "How'd you know my name?" he asked slowly.

Korra held back a gulp, realizing she was moving too fast. This was Aang, her past life. It was obviously a stroke of luck that she ran into him so quickly. But she didn't want to leave a bad first impression.

She briefly considered lying, but thought better of it. It would be better to just be honest right now. Korra looked from side to side, checking for any eavesdroppers in the street.

"Mind if I come in?"

Aang seemed to think about it before answering. "I kinda don't know you..?" Aang ventured, hesitant to invite a total stranger in, especially with how weird Ba Sing Se's residents seemed to behave..

Then again, this was the first person they've seen act somewhat _normal_, and not like they were being watched by unseen eyes. The situation was strange, but a refreshing change of pace.

"Please, I can explain," Korra insisted, raising her hands placatingly.

Aang sighed. Katara would probably not like him not consulting with them beforehand, but what the heck. Besides, something, a hunch, maybe, was telling him he could trust this girl. It totally didn't have anything to do with her vaguely resembling Katara. Nope.

Aang pulled the door open farther, granting Korra a better view of the interior. "Come on in, I guess," he welcomed, not having the energy to throw enthusiasm into his voice.

The house was very well put together. A large chair was set up by one wall, and a dining table with it's own set of chairs occupied what looked to be the center of the room. Much of the color scheme consisted of mute greys, warm browns, and forest greens, encouraging the occupant to feel at ease during their stay.

Korra stepped inside, belatedly noting that the flooring was covered with a dark green carpet. It was comfortable. She plopped down on one of the seats next to the dining table.

"Well?" Aang egged on, revealing that he was a but impatient about something. Korra couldn't tell about what, but she wouldn't take it personal. She inhaled deeply before breathing out.

She looked Aang dead in the eyes and sat up straight.

"Hello, Avatar Aang, I'm Avatar Korra. Nice to meet you."

There was a pregnant pause, with Aang staring at Korra to the point that she started to fidget in her seat.

"That's not funny," Aang deadpanned.

"I'm being serious," Korra answered pointedly. "I was sent back in time by...someone...to stop a Chaos Spirit," she added.

The monk only watched her, open suspicion now on his face. He still stood in front of her arms folded. The image reminded Korra of Tenzin's stern demeanor. "Really now? And who sent you, exactly?"

Korra didn't break eye contact. "I don't know. He never told me his name," she answered. _I never actually asked either. _But Aang didn't need to know that.

She realized that it wasn't helping that she had no idea who sent her here. But proving she was an Avatar should be a no brainer. All she'd have to do is demonstrate.

Aang shook his head before she could continue. "Ok, thanks for visiting, but now isn't really a good time." With a flick of his wrist, his discarded staff rose from the ground as if it was being suctioned by a vacuum to land in his grip. Korra whistled.

Korra didn't budge, much to Aang's mild annoyance. "I know you don't believe me, but there's a very simple way for me to prove who I say I am." She finally stood up. "You have a courtyard?" Aang watched her warily.

\--

The courtyard was comfortably large for a bender to practice freely without being constricted. While the house's interior was modeled nicely with decor, such as paintings, pottery, and well placed furniture, the courtyard was beatiful in its simplicity, only consisting of a large wide open area with high stone fences, affording the residents a bit of privacy. Along the side of one wall was a strip of water, deep enough to be counted as a fountain, but not wide enough to be a pool. The mininal amount of decor was afforded to specifically placed stones at corners of the courtyard.

Aang leapt up into the air, again amazing Korra. Slowly, he descended back to the surface, more slowly than any non-bender. He landed in a seated position at a high balcony, giving him an unobstructed view of Korra and the entirety of the courtyard.

"Ok, show me," Aang said, his head resting on his palm. His tone was of someone who wasn't convinced but was humoring her all the same.

Korra cracked her knuckles. Well then, he was in for a surprise. Breathing inward, she first guided her lead arm upward, muscles relaxed, in a flowing motion. The water rose at her encouragement, snaking over to her direction in mid-air.

Aang lifted his head from his hand, but still wasn't entirely convinced. Korra looked like she was from one of the water tribes anyway. But this did confirm she was indeed a bender.

What happened next was what blew his mind.

Tightening her fist, the water collided into itself, instantly freezing intk a wall of ice. Next, she stomped the ground, her bending style suddenly changing but somehow flowing seamlessly into it.

The ground submitted to her, coughing up a large boulder to her eye level. With a grunt, she spun and kicked the boulder towards the wall of ice, surprisingly embedding into it instead of outright shattering it. At this point, Aang was no longer seated and he was at the edge of his proverbial seat, leaning against the balcony's edge. Even Momo chirped excitedly from Aang's shoulder.

Then Korra punched forward, a massive torrent of flame careening towards the impromptu structure, exploding it into bits of rocks and water.

"That was amazing!"

"Hey what's going on out here!" A figure ran into the courtyard from the house, a boomerang held threateningly in a double grip. "Aang, you okay? I heard a boom!"

He spotted Korra standing in the middle of the courtyard, and aimed at her. "Don't move or I'm throwing!"

Korra froze, holding her arms up non-threateningly.

"Sokka, it's okay, she's a friend...I think."

Sokka glared at Korra, looking her up and down. "You _think_? You're not sure?" Sokka answered up to the monk. Aang descended toward the ground to land in between the two water tribe warriors. Feeling it was safe to do so, Korra lowered her arms.

"Yeah, she's cool," He assured. "I actually have something to tell you guys back in the house."

"Hmm," Sokka finally lowered his weapon, really looking at their new guest for the first time. He scratched his chin with renewed interest. "Hey, you're Southern Water Tribe!" he exclaimed, stepping closer to examine the parka wrapped around Korra's waist.

"Uh, yeah. Haven't been there in a while," Korra answered, a bit surprised Sokka caught on to that bit of info so fast.

"I've never seen you before. Did you live there or..?" Sokka ventured.

Korra sucked her teeth. "There's a bizarre answer for that one," she replied, unconsciously massaging the back of her neck. "But part of it was that I left when I was small, trained under several masters."

Sokka's brows rose with interest. "You're a fighter?"

"Yep," Korra gave an underwhelmimg reply.

"Well, you're clearly not fire nation, so you're alright in my book."

Korra suppressed a smirk. "Thanks, I guess?"

"Guys, come on, let's break the news," Aang insisted, jogging back inside the house, followed by Korra.

"What news?" Sokka trailed behind, reholstering his boomerang. He stepped back jnsode the house to find the gang plus Korra already inside the living room.

"I thought we were about to put up more posters," the shortest of the group announced without preamble from a reclining chair. "Who's our friend here?" she pointed her thumb casually at Korra. Although she was referring to their guest in question, she still was pointedly facing towards the door, while the water tribe woman was parallel to the courtyard entrance.

"Toph..." Katara warned. The earthbender only blew a stray lock of hair from her face.

"This is Korra, she's from the Southern Water Tribe," Aang announced before the two coukd argue.

Korra clapped her hands once. "Pleasure to meet you," she greeted, inclining her head to the group. To everyone's in interest, Korra bowed more deeply to Katara. Sokka raised a brow, along with Katara herself.

"I'm gonna get straight to the point." She crossed her arms. "I was sent here to help you all somehow. Also, I'm the Avatar."

Katara and Sokka both blinked at her, mirroring Aang's disbelief from earlier. Sokka spoke up first.

"Really?"

Katara elbowed Sokka in his side and Sokka flinchdd at the contact. "Hey, I mean it sounds interesting!" Sokka defended himself. Both turned to look at Toph who spoke up.

"She's not lying," the Earthbender observed, turning to face their general direction. At some point, she vacated the chair and was standing up. She still appeared to be looking past them.

"How do you know that?" Sokka queried, turning to face the blind girl.

"I can feel her breathing and heartbeat, it would change a lot if she was lying."

"Forgive us if we're a bit _skeptical_," Sokka said to both Korra and Toph.

Toph only shrugged and sat back down in the chair. "Either she's telling the truth, or my seismic sense is fried. Pick one," she retorted, folding her hands behind her.

Sokka frowned. "You know, sometimes I just can't read you."

Toph only shrugged.

"I can vouch for her. She showed me earlier," Aang said.

"If you think so," Katara replied, watching Korra.

"You don't believe me," the elder waterbender moreso stated than asked. Katara sighed.

"You have to admit, it's a lot to take in. Not to be rude, but where were you all this time if you're another Avatar?"

Korra didn't have an answer for that. Of course she could tell them she time travelled, but that would be a little much to be telling them. Sokka probably didn't trust her completely yet, and Katara would probably not believe it as anything but some fantastical story. She couldn't read Toph at all.

She'd need them to trust her more first. So she settled on a half-truth. "I was raised most of my life far away from the war...There's a lot of things I'm unaware of," she explained. "I was sent to help though, the best I can."

Even though it was the truth, Korra still felt extremely guilty as if she'd just told a huge lie. Toph seemed to be staring directly at her now, and she didn't know what to make of that. On the other hand, Katara and Sokka seemed satisfied with her answer, and Aang said nothing to dispute it. Even though she wasn't completely sure, she thought Toph might know she wasn't telling the whole truth.

"I guess this means welcome to team Avatar?" Sokka asked.

"How about Team Avatar Squared?" Korra replied.

Sokka stared at her intently. "Aang may believe you, but until I see it with my own eyes, the name's staying the same."

"Fair enough."

\--

With Korra's induction into Team Avatar, Katara explained to her what they were doing in Ba Sing Se.

"We're still trying to find Appa and get an audience granted by the Earth King," she said, seated across from Korra at the dining table. Everyone else were also gathered around. Katara had placed some food down earlier, some vegetable soup and rice for Aang and some rice and meat for herself, Toph, Korra, and Sokka.

"I'm sorry to hear that about Appa," Korra offered, but Aang sighed in reply. He'd probably heard enough of that already.

"What's this about the Earth King and an audience?" she continued, moving onto a safer subject. Last she remembered, the reigning Monarch was the Earth _Queen_. She thought it interesting she'd meet the previous ruler before the current one of her time.

Sokka was the one to answer this time. "This is the weird part." He leaned forward in his chair, a piece of meat in his right hand. "We've been trying to get an audience with the Earth King and we've only managed to say like, three words to him." He exhaled an annoyed breath and took a hearty bite of his food. "The only person willing to help us has been talking us in circles and proclaiming the _"greatness of this city and it's cultural heritage," _he mocked, making both Toph and Korra snicker at his antics.

"Joo Dee doesn't want us pinning flyers around the city, but there's no other way to get the word around more efficiently," Katara commented with a shrug.

"I'm guessing that was the lady I saw earlier. Looked like she was about to cry," she said neutrally. Aang slumped in his chair at Sokka's laugh.

"Yeah, that's gonna bite us in the blubber," he said half-seriously.

"We don't have any time to wait on the Earth King. We need to find Appa now," Aang said, sliding out of his chair. "Whatever it takes!"

Toph jumped out of her chair, pumping her arms in the air. "Yeah! Let's break the rules!" With an excited simultaneous stomp and raise of an arm, a tremor quickly traveled through the floor before a hole burst through the wall right next to the door. No one commented on the display. Everyone minus Korra were a bit frustrated from their current ordeal, and they had to admit that seeing the house damaged like that was a bit cathartic.

Momo was the first to fly out. They filed out, one by one, pointedly ignoring the door. Korra took the rear, and sharply turned around again, that feeling of being watched suddenly returning.

She could have sworn two shapes dissapeared behind a distant roof.

Without another word, she ran to catch up to the group.


	3. Chapter 3 - Butterfly Effect, Part 1

Sokka waved the pamphlets in his hand.

"We'll split up to cover more ground," he instructed.

The gang were currently standing in a busy central area of the inner rings, very close to the marketplace. A bridge suspended over a pond lie behind them, adjacent to a wall they stood ahead of while an intersection lay before them, plenty of passerby ambling by. The day was still clear, the Sun just shy of reaching its zenith. Sokka looked at each of them. "Toph, you're coming with me, I guess-"

"Why?! Is it because you think I can't put up posters on my own?" Toph snatched the paintbrush and a poster out of Sokka's hands. She flung glue at the wall and slammed the poster onto it. "There!"

Several seconds of silence followed. "It's upside down, isn't it..?" She sighed. "I'll go with Sokka," she deflated, handing the paintbrush back to him.

"Anyway..." Sokka pushed on, "Aang and Katara, you guys go that way," he ordered, pointing towards the bridge.

Katara and Aang went to do so and Korra made to follow, but was intercepted by Sokka.

"Hold on!" he exclaimed. "You're coming with us," he insisted.

"Huh?" Korra frowned. "Do I have to?" Sokka shook his head.

"I don't completely trust you with Aang yet. We're going this way."

"I get it, but there's still something important I have to tell him," she deflected, moving to follow Aang again. Sokka breathed out, annoyed, jumping to intercept.

"I have no problem with that," he offered. "But it can wait until we regroup." Sokka's tone was neutral, but it held no room for argument. Sokka may not dissaprove of her, but he still didn't quite trust her alone with Aang.

Korra rolled her eyes, but nonetheless acquiesced. It was daunting having to delay, but the logic was sound. She still wanted to endear herself to them. She still needed to tell Aang what the stranger had said to her, but antagonizing the group wouldn't help her case.

Sokka handed her several of the Appa posters and she followed Sokka and Toph along their route. This went on for several minutes, Korra and Sokka gluing the posters to any vertical surfaces they could find. Toph would occasionally help, trying and sometimes failing to place the posters right-side up. When Toph wasn't paying attention, he'd try his best to rotate the image properly as he passed.

"We sure this gonna work?" Korra finally questioned. "It's a big city and everyone willing to say more than 'Hello' are pretty standoffish." She put her hands on her hips, stretching the kinks out of her back.

"I'm with tomboy here," Toph surprisingly agreed.

"_Tomboy_?" Korra parroted, glaring at the small Earthbender. Toph only smiled from where she stood.

"Think of it as a compliment," she said, raising a finger. "As you can probably tell, I'm not exactly oozing femininity myself."

"Maybe a backhanded compliment," Korra retorted.

"Sue me," the younger bender challenged in good humor.

A loud crashing sound gripped all three's attention, and they all snapped their heads in the direction the bridge they'd left earlier was.

"That sounded like water...Katara!" Sokka waved Korra and Toph over as he sprinted in the other direction. "Come on!" he cried, closely tailed by the other two.

They arrived just ahead of the bridge, rushing past placed posters and surprised pedestrians. Sokka looked towards the pond, seeing a large trail of water leading knto an alley.

"There!" he announced, turning a corner after passing a couple of buildings. At this point, the crowd had already thinned out, and Sokka turned in to an alley.

Toph, Katara, and Sokka arrived to see Katara with her arms outstretched, and a person trapped in a block of ice against a wall.

Aang just turned the corner from the opposite end of the alleyway, just as surprised as the rest of the gang.

"What's going on?" Sokka queried, spotting the hapless young man. There were a pair of hookswords discarded on the ground between Katara and their owner.

"Jet's back," Katara ground out, animosity clear in her voice. "We can't trust anything he says."

Korra didn't think she'd ever heard Katara's kind old voice she remembered ever sounding like that.

_Note to self. Don't get on her bad side._

"But we don't even know why he's here!" Sokka argued. Ba Sing Se was literally the last place he'd expect to run into Jet.

"I don't care! Whatever reason it is, it can't be good!"

"I-"

Before Jet could defend himself, he was interrupted by a crackling noise directly above them.

"What was that?" Sokka asked aloud, everyone looking upwards.

While it looked like an electrical storm, the actual 'lightning' looked an angry purple rather than the blue usually associated with it. What could only be described as portals opened lower to the ground, barely noticeable except as a film-like substance that separated it from its surroundings.

The electrical storm suddenly stopped, but the portals remained.

Everyone was suddenly on guard. Korra was the most concerned. This didndidn't seem like something that would happen in history. She was sure she'd have heard about random electrical storms and portals.

That's when people started filing out of the portals.

Their clothing and attire was very alien to the gang. They all wore strange masks that doubled as goggles, along with pants and jackets that were strangely woven. Some of them even wore gaunlets on a single hand that sparked with electrical discharge.

While they looked alien to the gang, Korra knew exactly who they were.

"Equalists!" Korra exclaimed, kicking out jn a wide angle. A wall of flame materialized in front of her in a swiping motion, large and thick enough to distract the invaders.

"Over here!" she urged, waving the gang to another corner. The group complied without another word, all of them now out of sight. As an afterthought, Korra made a yanking motion with her hand, slingshotting the bound Jet to them. The ice shattered on impact, and he slowly sat up with a pained groan.

"T-thanks," Jet stuttered, massaging a bruise on his arm.

"Don't mention it," Korra dismissed with a wave.

Katara glared at Jet, before looking at the Earthbender. "Toph?"

Toph made a mock salute and softly stomped the ground. Earth in the shape of crude cuffs clamped around Jet's ankles in one big bar. He sighed, defeated.

Katara peeked around the corner, watching the strangely dressed group of warriors who were now searching for them. They numbered about seven or eight and by this time, the weird looking portals dissapeared. She remembered Korra's yell from earlier.

"You know who they are?" Katara asked, looking at the other waterbender. "Where'd they come from?"

"Yeah, they don't look like they're from any of the nations..." Aang observed, his head appearing above Katara's.

"Don't look like any military uniforms i'm familiar with," Sokka chimed in, his head above Aang's.

Silently, Korra pulled Aang and Katara from the wall before they could be spotted, while Sokka seemed to slide back behind cover without moving, thanks to Toph.

"They're equalizers. Bad guys from where I come from. They believe benders should lose their powers," Korra gave the abridged story. "Those guys are chi-blockers."

Sokka shook his head. "Maybe i'm jealous of benders sometimes," Sokka admitted. "But to believe they shouldn't have them at all? That's a little much." He pulled his bone sword out from it's holster.

"That's putting it lightly," Korra agreed. She sighed. "This means that Hundun's acting sooner here than I thought."

Aang blinked. "Hundun? I've heard of him. He was a tyrant Earth King. But that was like, centuries ago."

Sokka peeked quickly around the corner to see if the mysterious equalists were gone. They were still there. He faced Korra and Aang. "We can talk history class skme other time," Sokka whispered harshly. "We need to take care of them!" he continued, jerking his head in the direction of the warriors.

"So what's our plan?" Katara asked, all ears.

Sokka regarded Korra and Aang. He seen her firebend just moments ago, even though all her features down to her physical characteristics screamed water tribe.

"Korra, can you earthbend?" he decided to ask. The woman nodded, and Sokka found that he wasn't really surprised at this point.

"Okay." Sokka closed his eyes momentarily, before opening them, his mind abuzz with plans and ideas. "Katara, you do what you can to distract them. Whenever possible, disable them with your water whips. We can use those thunder gloves to our advantage." Katara nodded and stood by at the wall to wait for the word.

"Aang and Korra, you guys are going to do an upfront assault. Take down as many as possible and try to funnel them to Katara." Without a word, they took position. He then looked over to the youngest of the group. "And Toph, try to remain unseen and bind them up somehow."

The girl grinned widely, rubbing her hands in anticipation. "This is going to be _fun_," she said, her tone coming off as extremely ominous.

"What about me, I can help!" Jet whispered aloud, reminding the group of his presence.

"Jet stays there," Katara said deliberately, allowing no room for debate.

"Sorry," Sokka shrugged. "Don't worry, we won't leave you there." With that, Sokka ambled over to the wall the rest of the group were in waiting at.

Sokka raised a finger, then swung down with a chopping motion towards the unaware enemies.

Working together seamlessly, Korra and Aang burst from the corner. Aang ran across the wall, making a dragging motion with his arms while Korra ran directly below him, mirroring his arm movements. A giant rockalanche trailed behind the two Avatars, startling the chi-blockers.

Two of them were caught unawares as tendrils of water snatched them into the air. One had enough situational awareness to dodge both the water tendrils, and evade the rain of rocks amd stone.

Sokka engaged a fourth chi-blocker, ramming into his side. The three chi-blockers yet to engage any of them regrouped, approaching the two Avatars. One would use his gaunlet to shatter any large rocks and the occasional flame Korra threw their way.

Noticing this, Sokka made a sweep at his oponnent, momentarily stunning him, and threw his boomerang at the three fighters. The one leading the group, with the gaunlet was hit dead on at the back of his head, crumpling to the ground, like a puppet whose strings had been cut. The other two turned around, only to be pelted by the larger chunks of bent earth dislodging from a nearby wall, one of them getting floored by a rather large boulder.

Sokka's first opponent got back up, pulling away Sokka's attention. Including Sokka's enemy combatant, that made three of the conscious chi-blockers remaining.

The whole fight was still far enough away from the main square to draw any attention, but that would change very quickly if the remainkng fighters weren't taken care of.

Luckily, Toph was on the job.

The stone floor shifted below them as if a badger-mole was tunneling beneath them. One of the chi-blockers was forcefully sunk into the earth waist-deep, before being ejected, a bar of stone wrapped around him.

The remaining Equalist managed to avoid getting sunken into the earth, cartwheeling to Toph's side. He threw a jab aimed at her neck, which the Earthbender gracefully avoided by tilting her head just so. She punched upward, and pillar of earth shot up from the ground, impacting the fighter in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. He was then bound much the same way.

Sokka ducked to the left avoiding a jab from the equalist. They went back and forth narrowly hitting each other with sword and limb respectively.

Thinking quickly, sucked ducked and slid under the man, kicking out as he did so. The equalist fell on his side and while he was disoriented, a boomerang crashed into the back of his head, knocking him out.

He turned to see Katara finishing rounding up several of the mercenaries and Toph binding the rest of them.

Sokka swiped some sweat from his forehead, reholstering his boomerang and sword.

Silently, they grouped all of the unconscious equalists together into the alley the gang were hidden in earlier.

"Alright, Korra, you've got some explaining to do," Sokka said.

"Who's Hundun and what do these 'equalists' want?"


	4. Chapter 4 - Butterfly Effect, Part 2

Korra and the Gaang had all settled into what looked like an abandoned building. Since they were still relatively close to the Market area, which lie somewhere between the inner and outer rings, this particular building might have been an emptied storefront which the Earth Kingdom's government had yet to figure out what to do with it. For now, it would be a perfect spot to gather their bearings and decide on what to do with the unconscious Equalist soldiers. Katara and Toph sat nearby the downed mercenaries.

Sokka and Aang were situated near Korra, the former tying the Equalists' wrists together with rope. Although, Katara protested initially, Aang undid the earth shackles on Jet, the young Avatar insisting he wasn't a threat, to which Katara reluctantly relented.

"So," Sokka said as he checked over the ropes securing their prisoners. He'd found it lying all around the building and put it to good use. "Mind telling us who these weirdos are?"

"They're Equalists. It's a group of extremists who want to segregate Republic City." Korra paused after she'd said that. She didn't mean to volunteer that bit of info. She sighed, taking a seat by a wall. There were no chairs, or any furniture for that matter. This building was stripped of whatever it used to house. Looking ahead, she could tell Sokka was curious about the name Reoublic City, but he didn't seem particularly interested in pressing her about it.

"So those portal thingies are the work of-" Sokka paused glancing over to Aang. "What'd you say his name was?"

"Hundun."

"Yeah, that guy?" Sokka continued, glancing back towards Korra.

Korra nodded, folding her hands. "It would have to be. Before I was sent here, I was told that Hundun was manipulating the physical and spirit world," she shared. "He must be transporting them here with some sort of spirit magic."

But what were Equalists doing working for an evil spirit? The whole situation was odd and didn't make sense. How was a spirit even interacting with humans in a way that it could recruit them? Well, there was no use trying to rack her brain around it right now.

Sokka pulled her away from her thoughts by sighing. "Man...I thought fighting a war was hard enough," he said plopping to the floor as well. "Now we have to worry about malevolent spirits and their henchmen?"

"Don't worry, Sokka," Aang offered. "If it's anything like Hei Bai, I'm sure it could just be a big misunderstanding."

"I'm sure we can stop them," Korra assured. "I was sent here for a reason. We can figure out how to destroy the guy somehow."

Aang cleared his throat. "I'm sure we won't have to do anything that drastic..."

Korra gave him an odd look, to which he replied "What?"

"Nothing."

Sokka nodded his acknowledgement to the two, then turned towards Katara, Toph, and Jet, who sat awkwardly at a distance.

"You guys okay over there? And Jet, you know you can leave, right?"

The messy-haired boy nodded jn understanding. "I know, but before..._that," _Jet ventured, pointing towards the mercenaries. "I came to say I might know where to find Appa."

Aang jumped at the declaration. "Really?! Where?" he asked, quickly standing up. Katara dusted herself off as she stood up as well.

"Aang we can't trust anything he says," she commented. "And he showed up right before we were ambushed!" she pushed, stepping towards the former freedom fighter, who retreated back a step.

"I'm telling the truth!" Jet insisted. "Yes, I was a troubled person and I let my anger get the better of me, but I've changed. I don't even have the gang anymore, let alone knowing who those maniacs were!"

Silence followed this declaration,and the group looked at each other. "He's trying to get us to drop our guard," Katara countered, still unconvinced, although it seemed she was doubting her statement. Korra stood up, shuffling over to Katara.

"How about I keep an eye on him? I know the timing of everything that just happened is suspicious," she said looking Jet over. "But I think they're unrelated."

Katara sighed. The logic was sound, but she was hesitant to give the go ahead.

"Katara," Aang spoke up. "He's the only lead we have. If he says he can help, we should at least check it out."

Katara rubbed her forehead then pinched the bridge of her nose with the same hand. "You're right," she finally gave in. "You're both right." She stepped away from Jet. "Finding Appa is our first priority."

"But we're not letting you out of our sight," Katara warned, pointing directly at Jet.

"So what do we about these clowns?" Toph asked, pointing to the tied up attackers. Sokka, Korra, and Aang looked at each other.

"Guess we just leave 'em there," the water tribe boy answered. "They can't do much tied up, and we should be long gone by the time they can escape and regroup." Sokka ran some math in his head. "Besides, there's nowhere we can take them, and we know they aren't from the city."

"Sounds good to me," Toph replied, the first to make her way towards the door. "I am _not _dragging the circus around everywhere."

Korra walked over to Jet, drawing his attention, as the rest of the gang filed out of the abandoned structure. She noticed the depressed demeanor of his and decided to greet him.

"I'm...new to the team," Korra introduced herself, offering a hand. Jet shook it.

"Korra."

"Jet."

Jet regarded her for a second, looking dejected. "You're not immediately suspicious of me. I guess Katara hasn't told you why she doesn't like me."

Korra waved it off. "I can probably guess. I don't know what you guys' history is, so I'm not judging," she explained, beckoning him through the door. "Come on, let's catch up."

Yes, it was pretty obvious; Jet was apparently an old flame of Katara's. It actually reminded Korra a lot of her recent disagreements with Mako. She wished her last time having seen Mako wasn't accusing Asami's father of being associated with the Equalists.

She still believed it, but thinking back, there were so many ways, she could have approached it differently. Realizing her thoughts were wandering, she cleared her throat before the other teen could notice.

"Thanks, Korra," Jet said sincerely, following her outside.

"So where do we go from here?" Aang addressed Jet.

"Follow me," he said, leading the way deeper into the outer ring area of the city.

So the Gaang did, following Jet, they passed several blocks of shops, markets, central squares, and other assortments of buildings. The Sun had already reached it's Zenith now, and the day was as bright as it would get. In just a few hours, dusk would come, making it more difficult to navigate through the city, especially with Dai Li roaming about.

Finally, Jet stopped at a large storehouse, and opened the large double doors. Korra pitched in, opening the oppisite end. Each half of the door was about as large as your average person, the doors easily dwarfing Sokka and Korra, the tallest of the group, in height.

The crew roamed inside, looking around. There were definitely structures that looked like stables present, but the building was too quiet.

"This place is empty," Aang observed, noting a distinct lack of flying bison anywhere in the building. Besides the stables, the building was empty, save for an old man sweeping the floor. Katara immediately whirled around on Jet, water snaking out of her satchel.

"If this is a trap," she warned with a thinly veiled threat. Jet raised his arms placatingly, eyes wide.

"I work not too far from here!" he atteempted to explain. "Some guys were talking about having found a large furry creature, I figured it must be Appa!"

Aang returned to the group after apparently having been looking around. He had clumps of fur in his hand, holding them while his eyes held some wistful aura about them. He looked more hopeful than he'd been in the past several days.

"Appa was here!" he presented his findings to the group. His enthusiasm dampened almost immediately. "We missed him..."

An old man shuffled by, broom in hand.

"That big thing?" he leaned on the handle of his broom. "They took it out yesterday," he added, scratching his chin. Aang turned quickly at the new stranger. The employee shook his head. "About time, too. Had to clean up so much fur and various...leavings," the old man sighed.

"Took him? Where?" the young airbender questioned.

"Foreman mentioned something about Whaletail Island," he answered, shrugging. "I figure for a Zoo or something? Could be the meat that'd be good."

"Where's Whaletail Island?" Korra asked for the team.

"It can't be far!" Aang assured, then immediately turned to Sokka, unsure. "Right?"

Sokka already had the map taken out of his satchel and was beginning to spread it flat on the ground. The rest of the team gathered around.

"Far. Very Far," Sokka pointed to the Island on the map, his finger having trailed from the Earth Kingdom all the way to a spot near the South Pole.

"It'll take weeks to get to the South Pole, let alone barely leaving the tip of the Earth Kingdom," Korra reasoned. "Is there even enough time to go there and back?"

Aang brushed off her concern. "I don't care. We have a chance to find Appa," he declared, already turning to leave toward the door.

Korra couldn't really blame him. Shs'd trek the ends of the Earth to find her Naga.

"Appa should be our first priority," Katara agreed, Aang giving an appreciative sad smile. "We can always come back later."

The old man spoke again, and the team was reminded that he was still standing there. "Must be nice to visit an Island. Haven't had a vacation in years."

Korra and Katara spoke at the same time.

"Don't you have more floors to sweep?"

The old man repositioned his broom, continuing to sweep and headed away from them. "I get it," he intoned sadly. "No more need for 'Old Sweepy'," his voice faded as he shuffled off.

So it was decided they would make their way back to the inner ring, take the fastest train available, and hope for the best.

"I want to come with you guys," Jet summoned the courage to express. They were all passing the storefronts and shops, and the Sun was already beginning to set. Jet's proposal was immediately shot down.

"_No_," Katara answered immediately, not having so much as turned around to look at him.

"Why won't you trust me?!"

Katara seemed barely able to contain her anger all over again, if the rise of her shoulders were any indication.

"_Gee, _I _wonder_," she retorted, some venom in her voice. Korra patted Jet's shoulder sympathetically.

\--

Even though Katara made it clear that Jet wasn't welcome, he still trailed behind. Eventually, the group was approached by a girl wearing what looked like light armor an archer would use. Jet didn't recongize her to the girl, Smellerbee's confusion.

Apparently, Jet had been brainwashed, his memories manipulated. The Dai Li chose what Jet would remember and what he would forget.

The thought left a bitter taste in her mouth even after finding themselves in the underground tunnel network known as Lake Laogai. Smellerbee accompanied them, along with a silent archer known as Longshot.

"Charming place," Korra uttered, just loud enough for the team to hear. She hoped Ba Sing Se wasn't this corrupt in the present. The place seemed like a totalitarian government trying to pretend otherwise. Her observation was only enforced as they quietly snuck past what she assumed was an interrogation or 'brainwashing' room. There was a whole line of women who looked extremely similar to Joo Dee whom she'd seen earlier.

Once the Gaang reached a large door, Jet stepped forward. With Katara's help, his memories had been recovered and reorganized. The experience left Katara interacting with Jet with less animosity.

"This must be it," he murmured, grabbing the large door's handle.

The room was empty. No sign of life anywhere.

All that was present was a large staircase at the far end of the room, each step wide enough for the whole crew to stand side by side on. Shadows splayed all over the steps, enforcing some indescribable sense of foreboding. There were pillars along either side of the steps containing engravings of what looked like dragons that were faded with age.

"He was in here, I know I saw him," Jet insisted, stepping inside, looking around.

"We now have you where we want you," a voice echoed from across the room.

The other end of the room the voice originated from was covered in shadow.

Long Feng emerged from the shadows like a badgermole emerging from a dark tunnel.

There were two loud noises. Large chunks of rock fell from the ceiling, revealing a mass of Dai Li agents in waiting along the ceiling. From such a high distance, they looked like spiders, preparing yo pounce on their prey. As they dropped down to the ground with a practiced grace, they landed in formation in front of the Grand Secretariat.

The second loud noise was the door behind them. With a long groan of metal, it was drowned out further by the massive doors sealing shut.

Team Avatar and the Freedom Fighters were trapped inside with the Dai Li.

"Long Feng's eyes scanned the unlikely group of exciters of the public.

The children slipped into fighting stances.

His gaze fell on one in particular, a newcomer that the Dai Li reported to him. A second waterbender. He wasn't concerned, however, one sxtra manipulator of water would do nothing to alter his and his men's advantage here. His snake-like gaze returned to the bald, airbending monk.

"Let us negotiate, Avatar."

\--

_A/N: The next chapter is where canon will begin to diverge. The chapters up to now were mostly set up. Along with the alterations come the next chapter, Korra's presence will take more of a front seat along with the others. 'Till next chapter,_

_Exigence_


	5. Chapter 5 - Butterfly Effect, Part 3

"Now that's something different," Sokka commented, noting the ambush attempt. He slowly reached for his sword and boomerang. Their escape route was cut off and Long Feng had them surrounded. There were about eight Dai Li agents, plus the Grand Secretariat, making nine of them.

They were outnumbered, but just barely. With Korra in the mix, they probably stood a much better chance. Their new addition to the group, he knew, could at least bend Earth and Water. He was sure now at this point that she was just like Aang. They could definitely use that as their element of surprise and Sokka was 100% certain Long Feng didn't know this group of kids had two Avatars. He only wished he could warn Korra to stick with just one element until they could get out of the city.

Aang leveled his staff in Long Feng's direction, ready to blast air in the mustachioed man's direction. "Give us Appa, Long Feng!"

The man in question only watched them from his position at the steps. "You have been a constant thorn in my side, Avatar," he replied, ignoring Aang's demand. "And you have made yourselves enemies of the state." He folded his arms behind him. "I offer you two chances," he continued, his viice steady, but the danger clear. "Turn back and leave the city."

"Long Feng, is it?" Korra spoke up from where she stood. The Dai Li and their director's attention was now on her. The Grand Secretariat said nothing, and Korra took that as her cue to continue.

"We're only here to ask for the Earth King's aid. It's critical that we speak with him. The Fire Nation is severely weakened on a-"

Long Feng raised a hand in a halting gesture before dropping it to his side. "I've already refused the Avatar and his friends' request. What makes you believe you will be any different?"

Korra balled her fists. This guy was like Tarlokk all over again. He had the same ego but the only difference was that Long Feng managed to hide his under a a more subdued mask. She decided she disliked politicians even more than before.

"Because you're going to regret it," she answered, voice low. "Nothing good'll come from pretending the Fire Nation isn't a clear and present danger. It'll be too late when it blows up in your face."

Long Feng seemed unimpressed. "You all have one last chance. I am not extending the offer a third time." Korra scoffed at the man's ear dismissal. He raised a hand upward, palm open. His Dai Li raised their hands, revealing them covered in rock gloves.

"Agree to leave the city now, and I will waive all charges against you, allowing you to leave with your pet."

"You're in no position to make demands," Jet warned, drawing his swords. Strangely, Long Feng only smiled at the claim.

"Aren't I?" The Grand Secretariat dropped his hand downward in a chopping motion. "Dai Li! Take them into custody!"

With practiced speed, the Dai Li seemed to slide forward as if the ground were some automatic walkway. Two agents took the lead, thrusting their palms forward. Rock gloves blasted forward from their hands, immediaty gunning for Korra. Caught off guard, both arms were gripped by the rock gloves.

Exhaling angrily through her nose, Korra tensed her form and flexed her arms. The rock gloves broke apart as if they were pulled away by some invisible force. The two Dai Li started in surprise, and Korra used the time afforded to thrust both fists forward, one above her head, the other parallel with her waist. A diagonal slab of earth shot from the ground, travelling nearly all the way across the room, large and wide enough to launch both agents off their feet.

Long Feng allowed a bit of suprise to show on his face, a raised brow. An Earthbender? Odd, she looked just like a waterbender, from the clothes she wore down to her physical traits. The implications of that did not matter to him right now, though.

Her display of Earthbending was a bit...much, compared to your average fighter. Bending of that scale usually denoted benders with larger than normal pools of Chi, prodigies, or the Avatar. He could strike the latter for obvious reasons and she was clearly skilled. If she was a prodigy was to he determined, but the large amount of Chi was no mistake.

He leapt forward from the steps, quickly taking into account his advantages.

The Beifong was clearly a prodigy, but she was being held up by both the Dai Li and protecting her allies. He observed as she broke the gloves that were launched at Katara and Sokka and proceeded to elevate herself and them on a platform of Earth.

He neared Korra, his arms raised in a fighting stance.

"Where did you come from, girl?" Long Feng inquired, starting to circle Korra. The Earthbender in front of him mirrored his movements. "We've been tracking the Avatar and his group for several days. You however, are an anomoly," he threw his hand forward, testing the waters. A pillar of Earth launched from the ground, flying towards Korra like a missle.

The girl dropped into a horse stance, her fists level with her hip. She took one large step forward, headbutting the pillar into rubble like it was nothing. Korra stepped through the dust cloud she'd created, brushing her shoulder off. "You're making a mistake, Long Feng," she said, remembering what Aang called him. "Playing pretend isn't going to stop the Fire Nation from advancing here."

"What the Fire Nation does is of no concern to Ba Sing Se," Long Feng retorted. He couldn't pinpoint why, but what she said bothered him. He pushed the thought out of his mind. "This city has yet to fall, and it never will." He punched forward in a series of strikes, chunks of rock flying forward towards Korra, who raised up a wall of earth in retaliation and pushed it forward.

Rooting his stance, Long Feng allowed the wall to crumble as it attempted to pass throigh him. With a chop, pieces of earth shot down from the ceiling towards his opponent. Seeing this, Korra yanked both arms upward towarda the top of her head. The debris collided with the arch of Earth before she folded her hands as if crushing a ball. The collected Earth and debris crumpled in on itself, which she promptly dropped and stomped forward, making pillars launch vertically from the ground towards Long Feng in random patterns.

He clicked his teeth, rolling to the side and barely just avoiding the attack.

"Give it up, Long Feng," Korra shouted. "You've lost."

It seemed so, as Long Feng's men were incapacitated or attempting to recover. The Beifong girl and the other two watertribe warriors had regrouped with the Avatar.

They all faced toward him, stances ready. He sighed, as if being outnumbered was no more than a minor inconvenience.

"Jet," Long Feng raised his voice, loud enough for the teen in question to hear. "**_The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai_**."

Korra noticed Jet suddenly tense up, standing straight.

"I am honored to accept his invitation," the young man answered monotonously.

"Jet, no!" Katara'e cry was heard.

The older Avatar narrowed her eyes. Long Feng was just like Tarlokk, indeed. Even stooping to stripping someone of their free will. Whether it be bloodbending or brainwashing.

"You're despicable!" she cried, charging at the Secretariat. She no longer saw Long Feng.

It was the water tribe politician. Her fellow kinsman that betrayed her trust. She wanted to make him _hurt._

Korra made to punch forward and launch as much of the floor as she could, but her arm was intercepted half-way. She found her arm in a lock and suddenly she crashed to the floor.

Above her, Jet raised his hook swords, and swung down. Eyes wide, Korra kicked outward, hitting Jet's wrists, giving jer enough time to recover while he was stunned.

"Jet?" she asked, attempting to elicit a response from him. He was silent, only turning to charge at her. Again, Korra jumped out of the way, looking every which way to spot Long Feng.

The Grand Secretariat had already begun to retreat, he and his crew making their way toward one of the large pipes propped near the ceiling at one end of the room. He was too far away for her to chase after with the now brainwashed Jet chasing her.

Suddenly, a gust of wind slammed into Jet, flinging him sideways with just enough force to be non-lethal, but still knock him off his feet. Off to the side, Aang stood with his staff outstretched, his clothes settling from wind that couldn't have occured naturally indoors.

"Go after Long Feng!" he ordered. "I'll stop Jet!"

Korra nodded once, taking off toward the Dai Li, not before taking a calming breath. She wasn't sure how she hallucinated Tarlokk, but it wouldn't happen again. Taking a small hop, she planted both feet on the ground while swinging her arms backwards. In response, the floor decided to vault upwards, launching Korra like a human missile.

Long Feng and the Dai Li were still unaware of her arrival as she closed in. Still airborne, she swung her arms downward this time, as if she were clearing a desk. The ceiling above the escaping Dai Li began to collapse, catching their attention.

"What?!" Long Feng was caught off guard by Korra's sudden appearance so quickly. She landed noisily, managing to cause a localized tremor. Unfortunately, only two of them were knocked off their feet.

Korra's element of surprise did not last long however. Long Feng demonstrated that he was not the Director of the Dai Li for nothing. As Korra attempted to launch a wall of Earth toward him, he appeared to phase through it, giving Korra pause. He then swung his arms sideways and a wave of Earth crashed into her side, launching her off the pipe.

"No!" Korra shouted, attempting to pivot around. She would have trouble breaking her fall if she couldn't see where she was landing. She braced herself, and landed into something decidely _not _made of stone and pain.

She blinked, and Jet's voice carried from overhead.

"You alright?"

"I...thanks," she said as he helped sit her up.

"Aang broke me out of that trance," he offered by way of explanation as he saw her guarded expression. She turned to see Aang and the team running to catch up to them.

"You sure you're okay?" she asked after a brief pause. He nodded with just a lopsided smile. He then looked towards where the Dai Li had gathered, noticing they hadn't left yet.

"Take him out," Long Feng ordered, exhaustion in his voice.

A storm of rocks suddenly detached from the walls, all aimed at Jet. Each one the size of boulders, there was no way he could block them without coming out of it grievously injured, or worse. But he stood in front Korra anyway.

Korra attempted to stand up, but her left side screamed in protest. She groaned at the stinging pain shooting near her ribs.

_Did I break something?_

"Jet! Korra!" Korra looked to see that Sokka, Katara, and Toph were all on a rockalanche, attempting to reach them. Aang was running right beside them with his enhanced speed.

At the rate they were going, her and Jet would be crushed by the incoming boulders.

_If only I knew how to go into the Avatar State..!_

"Jet, get out of the way!" She ordered, trying again, and painfully, to stand up.

"Not a chance! I'm returning the favor!" Jet retorted, holding his swords close to him in a cross formation, as if it would somehow shield them from the incoming boulders.

With the last of her strength, Korra raised her arms, creating a half-dome of Earth, which immediately began to crack under the pressure of the raining boulders.

_So this is how I go out. Crushed by rocks. _Korra kept her arms raised, ignoring the pain in her side. Just before she blacked out, she saw Jet still standing in front of her and the team closing in. The dome gave way and she lost consciousness.


	6. Chapter 6 - Introspection

When her eyes opened, she found herself surrounded by earthy tones pf color, ranging from forest green to muddy brown.

Korra blinked, squeezing her eyes shut almost immediately. The sunlight felt nearly blinding, and what made matters worse were the sudden sounds of nature assaulting her ears. The bird calls were the loudest, she decided. She rolled over to lay on her stomach and attempted to push herself off of the ground.

Once on her knees, she patted her left side as if suddenly realizing something.

"The pain is gone," she muttered to herself. The rustling of leaves gripped her attention, and she finally looked around to study her surroundings.

Trees were everywhere, and their thick branches created a canopy that allowed scattered beams of sunlight to shine through the thick foliage. The ground she sat on was firm but soft, as if it had just rained.

Scratch that, there was a blanket under her. It looked handmade, and it was large enough for two people.

She looked towards the ground, seeing a campfire that looked recently burned out and an empty...was that a tea kettle?

"Great, now I got sent somewhere else," She clicked her teeth, finally finding the energy to stand up.

"Take your time getting up, you looked very injured when you arrived."

Forcing herself to remain calm, she turned around. Behind her had been a riverbank and splayed on the ground was a log, currently occupied by an elderly man in red clothing.

"I seem to be asking this a lot," she mumbled to herself. "What is this place? And who are you?"

The man had a flowing grey beard which he stroked thoughtfully. He looked rather unassuming and had a kind face. "Pardon the quaint surroundings," he greeted. "To put it bluntly, you are in the Spirit World."

"Spirit World?" Korra's brows lowered in concern. She was not spiritual in the slightest, and she really did not need to be here right now.

"Can you return me to the Physical World?" Korra asked, walking over to stand next to the kind old man. He gestured her over.

"Please, sit."

Korra hesitated, but plopped down next to the man. Smiling, he picked up something from his side. He offered her a teacup, steam still pouring from it. It smelled of fresh herbs and citrus.

"It's not quite like my Jasmine Tea, but you make due with what you can procure."

Korra took the cup, taking a tentative sip once she saw the old man drinking from his own cup. Blinking, she realized the tea was delicious! Taking a few more sips, she finally set it down next to her. "Thanks...for the tea."

"You're very welcome," the man returned. His expression fell. "I'm afraid I do not know how to return you. I'd found you unconscious nearby." Korra shook her head.

"Great. Stranded in the Spirit World," she seethed. "This never happened before, why now?" she asked no one in particular.

"Usually," the old man answered. "Mankind cannot normally breach the veil between the two worlds, especially when still alive and healthy." He took another long sip from his tea cup, sighing contentedly. "That is a skill reserved for the Avatar, or someone who has unlocked most or all of their Chi paths."

Korra fingered the fabric of her parka. "So if an Avatar got stuck here, what would they do to get out?" she asked.

"Hmm. It may sound cliche," he ventured. "But you would need to look inward. Trauma is the common thread that allows one to enter the spirit world unconventionally."

Korra regarded the old man before looking away. "I mean, I think I got crushed by rocks...that's traumatic enough, right?"

"I wouldn't know," the old man said, leaning to his left to grab the tea kettle. He poured it into his own cup, refilling it, then offered it to Korra. She held out her cup, and the pleasant aroma of citrus returned. "My guess is that it runs deeper than just physical pain. That was the catalyst. The root of it, is in the mind."

"The mind..." Korra repeated, staring down at her refilled cup. She could see her reflection in the hot liquid. Before she realized, she had been staring at it for a while before the image morphed intk that of a man's. Older...long hair.

Bloodbending. That forsaken platinum box.

A hand on her shoulder caused her to jump, nearly spilling the tea.

"Are you alright?" the kind old man asked. His concern was clear in his voice. She offered a weak smile in return.

"Yeah," she stood up, downing the rest of the tea. After setting the cup down, she bowed, her palm against fist. "Thank you. I think I know what I have to do now."

The stranger bowed his head, smiling. "I hope you have a safe journey."

"Do you think we might ever meet again?" Korra asked as she turned to leave. He reminded her a lot of Master Tenzin.

"Who knows," the wise old man replied. "If it is destiny, you're always meant to meet those you cross paths with."

"Sounds like you don't know," Korra replied lightheartedly.

The man blinked before guffawing. "Perhaps. But what would be the fun in knowing?" he chuckled. "Perhaps we _will_ cross paths again."

Korra nodded, turning back around to head farther down the forest. She glanced back, seeing the man still seated on the log, looking out toward the river bank. She pressed on.

Coming to a secluded spot in the forest, she sat down in lotus position, resting her back against the trunk of a rather massive tree. It was flanked by others, forming a sort of circle of foliage. A single ray of light pierced through the area, directly where she sat.

Korra looked side to side before closing her eyes and steepling her fingers in a meditative position.

Perhaps she just needed to breathe-

Without warning, images assaulted her mind's eye, and she frowned, but was set on keeping her eyes closed.

The first vision was the box. It felt like she was surrounded by the platinum cage again, unable to escape.

She felt sweat trail down the side of uer face.

"No, not this place again," Korra whispered, struggling to keep her breaths calm. She was beginning to hyperventilate, and she shook her head, as if it would dispel the cruel vision.

Why was she seeing it? What here would help her get back to the team?

"Focus," Korra coached herself. She breathed in deeply, feeling her pulse finally slow back down. She wasn't in the cage anymore. The Spirit World or someone was trying to tell her something. But what?

Looking around, everything in the metal box looked hazy, lacking sharpness. As if her mind understood that her current surroundings were an illusion.

With this in mind, she brushed her hands across the platinum metal. She wasn't completely sure what she was looking for, but she felt it was what she needed to do.

She felt the box give at point on one side and instinctively pushed against it.

"Come on..." she uttered with held breath. Without warning, the panel gave way, and the box seemed to fade out of existence as it did so.

She turned back, seeing nothing.

"You've taken your first step."

She recognized that voice, Korra realized. She looked around, but saw no one.

"It's you!" she said aloud. You're the one who sent me back in time!" Korra paced around, trying to find the source of the voice. All she saw was darkness, so much so, that she couldn't see in front of her. Even seeing her hands was an impossible challenge!

When had that happened?

She breathed in, then out. Something told her to just keep walking forward. So she did. Eventually, she came across a source of light, a white spot in the distant.

"Aren't we told _not _to go toward the light," Korra muttered, but kept going. The light looked more like a doorway and it was extremely fuzzy. It looked like there were shapes on the other side vaguely resembling people, but they looked much too large to fit in that other side, as if they were giants.

"Maybe I just step through?" she asked herself. She wished she could talk to that old man again. But there was nothing here now except that doorway and the infinite darkness. Her choice was obvious.

Out of habit, she started to peer behind her, only for a gloved hand to clap down onto her shoulder.

A deep voice whispered in her ear, and the fact that she recognized the voice sent chills down her spine.

"You're racing against the clock, Avatar."

Korea swallowed, turning her head to see that horrible mask.

...

\--

When Korra awoke this time, all of the sensations she hadn't felt before assaulted her all at once. Her ribs, her arm.

Everything was hurting.

She groaned, finding that even cracking open her eyes was a chore. The fuzzy shapes of people she remembered seeing earlier started to clear up, they along with the scenery starting clear up and come into focus.

Sokka was looming over her, and she realized there was a cool sensation on either side of her head.

"Katara, she's awake!" she heard the watertribesman whisper loudly. He looked past Korra, to someone out of her eyesight. Almost immediately, she felt the cooling sensation dissapear. Katara's head popped into from above, smiling down at her.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I was tail whipped by Appa."

Sokka snorted at this, but stopped at a look Katara gave him that Korra couldn't see. "Sorry," he whispered with a shrug to them.

"I mean it kinda is a weird question to ask," Toph commented off from the side.

"See?" Sokka cosigned, nodding enthusiastically. Katara rolled her eyes.

Feeling a little stronger now, Korra slowly lifted herself up, belatedly realizing her head had been resting on Katara's lap. She could see now that they were in the sky. Toph sat at the edge, next to Sokka, and Aang was farther forward, perched atop Appa's head. The wind was gently whipping at her face and hair and she was surprised she didn't feel all of that earlier. Then she remembered what happened before she'd lost consciousness under Lake Loagai.

She sat up straight, immediately feeling dizzy. Katara shuffled over to her, steadying her by the shoulders. "Careful, you just woke up."

The older watertribe girl rubbed her eyes, allowing herself to breathe. "Jet, is he..?"

Katara smiled, putting her at ease. "He's okay. We dropped him off with Smellerbee and Longshot. He said he wanted to thank you."

"For what?"

"Saving him," Sokka answered. "That Earth shield you made really came in handy, although one of those boulders nearly broke your ribs."

"That explains why it hurts so much," Korra observed, tenderly touching her left side which still seemed very sore.

"If it weren't for your quick thinking and Katara's magic water, you and Jet probably wouldn't be alive right now," Toph spoke up. Sokka then smiled, his face mischievous as he watched Toph.

"You should have seen Toph! The Dai Li tried to ambush us once we made it topside," Sokka explained, accompanied with wild hand gestures. "Long Feng goes on a monologue, and her and Aang play Earthball, smacking them around with giant walls!"

"He had it coming!" Toph interjected.

"You were _big _mad," Sokka said, holding in a laugh.

"Was not!" Toph denied, face flushing. "Ok, maybe a little."

"Well, anyway, we're glad you're okay!" Aang half shouted from where he sat.

Korra smiled. "So where are we headed?" She paused. "You found Appa!"

Aang's smile was wide. "Yep!" he replied. "And we're headed to the Palace! There's no way Long Feng can cover up that cave in time."

Katara settled herself where she sat once she was sure Korra could sit upright on her own. "We were going to wait another day first," Katara began, looking down. "But, fortunately you were able to recover."

"Once we get the Earth King's support, I think we all deserve a break," Sokka told Korra. "Especially after that injury you got."

Korra nodded, not sure what to say in reply.

After about a half hour, the bustling palace was visible below them.

"You feel strong enough to walk?" Sokka asked, peering over the saddle.

"I think so, yeah," Korra answered, slowly rotating her left arm. It and her ribs still smarted, but it felt more sore than anything. Katara's healing water really did help a ton.

"If not, just take it easy," Sokka continued. "We're not really expecting to have fight any-"

Sokka was cut off by his own shout of surprise as Appa suddenly banked hard to the left. Everything suddenly almost looked sideways, and a boulder careened past overhead, nearly taking Sokka with it.

"Me and my big mouth..!" Sokka chastised himself. "Everyone stay low! Ground to air boulders incoming!"

"Don't need to tell me twice!" Toph nearly screamed, a hand over head.


	7. Chapter 7 - Butterfly Effect, Part 4

_To Princessbinas: Yes, that was Iroh, __but not the same Iroh she meets in the physical world._

_\--_

Rocks continued to blast past them, expertly dodged with Aang and Appa's teamwork. The whole gang felt themselves rotate nearly ninety degrees as a result.

"I don't think I like flying!" Toph managed to shout, her voice betraying how noxious she felt.

Another rock came careening towards them, but this time dangerously closer than all the rest that came before. Determined, Aang thrust his hand outward, palm open as he jumped to his feet. The massive boulder made contact with his hand, shattering into two rocky halves on impact. "Hold on, we're gonna land!" Aang yelled, repositioning himself to sit down. He guided the reins in a practiced pattern, as if navigating through a maelstrom of elemental missles was a daily occurence.

Everyone heeded Aang's advice, lying as prone as they could on the saddle while they held on tightly to the saddle's edges. Suddenly, they all felt a lurch as they were no longer nosediving and there was the sudden sensation of Appa being on land. It was accompanied by a roar from the Sky Bison and a terrified squawk from an unseen Ostrich-Horse.

Wasting no time, Toph was the first off of Appa, earthbending before she'd even landed on the palace grounds. A giant wave made of the stone flooring suddenly lurched from the ground, moving as fluidly as a tsunami wave. Toph was atop it, charging forward at the stunned guards and the still a ways off palace doors.

The rest of the gang followed Toph's lead. Korra decided to mimic Toph, creating a wave of rock of her own. Katara hitched a ride with Toph while Sokka jumped on Korra's platform. Aang pushed ahead, knocking a portion of the guards off the steps, many of them ragdolled and leaving behind startled screams.

"You sure you feel okay enough to bend?" Sokka asked, the first time concern from him was aimed towards her that she could remember. He hadn't looked her way, instead having his back to her as he slugged his boomerang ahead of them to incapacitate any distant soldiers, or swinging his bone sword at any that came too close.

Korra nodded and then answered with a simple "Yeah," realizing he couldn't see her with his back turned. "I think Katara healed the worst of it," she added. "Just sore." Sokka glanced back to nod, turning his attention back to the path the team was clearing.

Korra's rock Tsunami continue it'it's path towards the palace doors, lagging just behind Toph's faster variant. Any soldiers Toph and Katara happened to bypass, Korra and Sokka would dispatch with well timed pillars of rock and a thrown boomerang, respectively.

The palace doors were just ahead now, about one hundred meters. The remaining guards stood in formation at the top, a squad of them rushing down the steps toward them. At least they _were _steps. With a gesture from Toph, the stairs flattened into a ramp. The advancing soldiers lost their footing, tumbling down the impromptu obstacle course.

With much less resistance now, they closed in on the massive entryway into the Earth Kingdom Palace. Aang led the way, followed by Katara and Sokka, while Korra and Toph covered the rear. They dashed their way through, going by the idea that that the Earth King's chamber would be in the dead center of the opulent structure.

They came closer to the end of the center hallway, with Sokka deciding to check each of the doors in case they might pass him by.

Korra neared Sokka, and nearly jumped back when he stepped backwards into her path, followed by a scream from the room.

"Sorry, wrong door," he appeased, closing it right after. "Well, nothing to check but the big door here," he said aloud, sweeping his hand in the direction of the giant stone double door.

"Looks pretty sturdy," Korra commented, giving the entrance a once over. It was standard issue, at least in make. A giant earthen door, fashioned by the most renowned earthbending sculptors. Even from here, she could tell that it had to be several meters thick. Sokka however, didn't seem at all concerned as he rotated a shoulder.

"Stand back guys, I got this!" Sokka sprinted towards the door, his dominant leg outstretched as he leapt forward.

"Flying Kick-a-Pow!"

Almost as if he were magnetized to the door, he seemed to be stuck in freeze frame when his foot connected with the door. Understandably, it hadn't budged, and Sokka finally fell to the ground on his rear.

A second of silence followed before Aang hopped forward, his staff in a double grip. He swung mightily, a massive gust of wind slamming the doors open. Sokka was caught in the turbulence and got pushed through the now open door, unharmed.

"A little warning next time?" he ground out, stretching his back for kinks. As he slowly got back up, the rest of the gang filed in.

"Long Feng..." Korra balled her fists so tightly, her nails threatened to dig into the skin.

The team took fighting stances. At the crest of the steps sat the Earth King. Standing at his left side were the Grand Secretariat, along with a unit of Dai Li agents.

The team took fighting stances and Long Feng narrowed an eye upon noticing Korra. As if he were asking _How are you still here?_ The thought alone made Korra's blood boil. But she exhaled from the nose, remembering her...experience? Vision? Whatever that was where she met the old man. Regardless, now was not the time to lose her cool.

"We have to talk to you," Aang relayed to the King, an urgency in his voice. The monarch's brows lowered in concern, but his attention was pulled to his advisor. His secretariat's face held a mask of false concern. Behind him and off to the side sat a robed bear. It looked quite intimidating by virtue that it was a bear, but the effect was dampened by the fact that it was wearing clothes.

"They're here to overthrow you," Long Feng asserted, his eyes never leaving the group of misfits.

"No," Sokka cut in, glaring at Long Feng. "We're on your side," he pleaded to the King. "We're here to help."

"You have to trust us," Katara supplied.

Earth King Kuei did not immediately respond. He was glaring down at the group, but seemed to be looking past them. He finally spoke, his volume steadily rising along with the tension in the room.

"You invade my Palace...lay waste to all of my guards," King Kuei's voice began to waver. "You break down my fancy door, and you expect me to trust you?"

Toph scratched her chin. "He's got a good point," she reluctantly agreed.

King Kuei finally stood from his throne, and the atmosphere of the room seemed to shift. The Dai Li raised their arms toward the group, their rock gloves aimed in preparation.

"If you are on my side, lay down your weapons and stand down!"

Team Avatar hesitated, briefly looking at each other for guidance. Korra was prepared to launch fire at Long Feng's smug face, but she caught Sokka's expression. He slowly shook his head in a silent warning before dropping his own weapon.

Korra sighed in disappointment, relaxing her fists.

Long Feng seemed to smirk where he stood. "Detain the assailants!"

The Dai Li moved quickly, appearing behind the gang, ready to place them all in shackles.

"But we're your allies! We dropped our weapons!"

"I should have known you'd just arrest us again," Korra spat. In response, Long Feng looked down his nose at her.

"Make sure the Avatar and his friends never see the light of day again," he scoffed, turning to vacate the room with his men.

The Dai Li were interrupted by none other than King Kuei.

"Did you say the Avatar?"

Long Feng mentally facepalmed. He should have known better than to name drop the bald child's status of all times.

Kuei stepped forward, standing at the edge of the top of the steps, regarding Sokka curiously.

"Are you the Avatar?"

Korra couldn't help but snort at the abdurdity of the claim before Sokka could respond, but instantly quieted when kuei turned his attention to her. "You must be the Avatar, then?"

If Korra had been drinking anything, she'd have choked on it. She coughed and cleared her throat. Sokka intervened once realizing she was slow to respond.

"No, he is," Sokka cut in, pointing toward Aang the best he could while cuffed. Korra let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

"Right here, sir," Aang confirmed, waving his oddly uncuffed hands before placing them back behind his back as if he were restrained the entire time. The cuffs reattached.

Long Feng resisted the urge to grumble under his breath. He maintained his composure, although his annoyance began to just barely bleed through his voice. "What does it matter, your highness?" he asked the king. "They're enemies of the state." He gestured a dismissive hand at the group of upstarts.

Kuei looked downcast at the assertion, and Long Feng allowed himself a inward smile at his small victory.

"Perhaps, you're right," Kuei began to agree.

Kuei's bear unexpectedly approached Aang and licked his face. Aang let out a chuckle at the attention.

Kuei's demeanor seemed to change immediately at the scene and he alliwed a smile towards Long Feng.

"Although...Bosco seems to like him," he observed. Kuei cleared his throat.

"I'll hear what the Avatar has to stay."

Korra couldn't let the chance slip and stuck her tongue out at Long Feng when the king wasn't looking. The Secretariat could only glare in response.

\--

Having Appa with them again, it was easy now to convince King Kuei of Long Feng's conspiracy. There was a small hiccup with the now buried Lake Laogai, but once Kuei was convinced to ride on Appa to the outer walls with them, his assistance was assured.

Kuei looked over the wall, horror painted over his face.

"What is _that_?!"

Down below, a massive machine was slightly embedded into the wall. A giant drill, obviously damaged.

"A construction project, my liege," Long Feng quickly answered, careful to not let his voice waver.

"With a fire nation logo on it?" Korra was quick to point out.

Long Feng cursed under his breath.

There was no hiding the fact that the drill was Fire Nation property. The flame insignia was plastered all over the top of the vehicle.

"Imported merchandise. You know how can't always trust domestic machinery."

The excuse was weak and they all knew it. King Kuei had yet to say anything as he continued to stare down at the mess down below.

"Surely you're not taking their word over your most loyal attendant?"

"Dai Li," Kuei finally spoke. He turned, standing straight up.

"Arrest Long Feng! I want him to stand trial for crimes against the Earth Kingdom!"


	8. Chapter 8 -Change of Perspective, Part 1

"This is madness!" Long Feng raised his voice, struggling against his Dai Li captors. "You need me more than you know!" His comments went ignored by the King as he was taken away.

Although the two agents were hesitant for only a moment to arrest their Director, they followed their King's order without question. The team released a collective sigh of relief as Long Feng was dragged away.

No more spys trying to take them out and no more unwarranted espionage. Out of all of them, Sokka looked the most smug.

"Looks like Long Feng is LONG GONE!" he shouted towards the retreating form of Long Feng and his captors.

"You tried..." Toph sympathized, much to the amusement of the rest of the group.

Korra watched as Long Feng was dragged away, with no small amount of satisfaction.

Then they stopped moving. In mid-pull, the two Dai-Li agents halted so suddenly and unnaturally. They weren't so much as breathing. Even the Grand Secretariat was still in his unheard complaint, as if she were oberving a full color photograph.

"Like time is stopped..." Korra whispered to herself, realization slowly coming to her.

"Astute observation, young lady."

Korra tensed and whirled around.

As if turning a corner, a man appeared from behind Aang and the rest of the team, seemingly materializing out of nowhere. The young monk and the water tribe siblings were frozen in whatever pose they happened to be in. Aang was holding in a laugh, while Katara seemed to have been shaking her head at Sokka. The latter looked like he was shrugging.

Korra noted all of this quickly, not letting her eyes waver too long from the elderly man that materialized.

He was tall, greatly so. He managed to look of average height only because he was hunched over, a cane in hand. Draped in large violet-colored robes, they were adorned with jewelry of some foreign origin. While his long, flowing beard made him look kindly, something in his eyes only impressed a sinister aura.

Korra put two and two together. "Stopped time...old man..." she pointed at him accusingly. "You're Hundun."

The old man smiled. "In the flesh," he replied amicably. One hand gripped his cane and he ambled on to the side where the outer ring's ledge was. "Seeing as you are not in proper place, I can presume you are here to stop me?"

Korra hesitated to answer, glancing at her frozen friends. "How did you..." Korra paused mid-sentence, noting the smug grin adorning his face.

"Whatever you're doing, stop it," she demanded. "Time isn't something to be played with."

Hundun regarded her as if she'd said something unintelligent before chuckling lightly. "My goal requires too much sacrifice to be halted by you simply..."

Hundun gestured his free hand as if calculating his next words. "Demanding it." He chuckled. Which brings me here."

"I'm going to stop you," Korra promised, raising her arms in a ready stance. Oddly, Hundun didn't bother bracing himself.

Then this would be easy. Although something at the back of her mind was telling her this was _too _easy.

For now, she ignored the gut feeling, filling her lungs with air. Exhaling through her mouth, she punched forward with one arm extended while her other arm was chambered above her head, forcing a stream of flame toward the old man.

The fire failed to hit its mark, instead colliding with the earthen railing that Hundun was standing next to only an instant ago. The flames persisted as it licked at the stones and the old man seemed to quickly _hover_ towards her.

'_What in the world..?_''

"Did you think simply _bending _at me would be enough to stop me?"

Korra stamped down the shame at the thought. Korra only needed to glance at the frozen form of her friends to know that there was no merit in listening to him.

So she responded with an aggressive roundhouse kick, a fiery wave slamming toward the ancient king.

Without exerting himself, Hundun stopped Korra's kick short, holding her ankle in a vice like grip that contradicted his apparent age.

"Let go of me!" she ordered, launching off of her remaining leg to catch him off guard. Her second kick was brushed aside by a lazy block before she was tossed like a discarded doll.

The impact with the ground did her recently healed injuries no favors, knocking the breath from her chest.

Korra was baffled. First, being defeated by Long Feng, and now some old man she's only recently heard of?

You don't scare me, Hundun!" Korra declared, remaining resolute. The old man didn't seem bothered by the statement.

"Killing you now would not complete my revenge," he suddenly said.

_Revenge?_

"Your spirit must be broken first and I need you out of the way for now." Hundun smiled.

"How delightfully ironic it would be if the Avatar's soul was trapped in the body of it's own enemy..."

With fingers spread wide, a net of purple spread from Hundun's outstretched fingers. It looked akin to a web, deceptively thin. Korra twisted and turned, it didn't matter. The web held fast, as if she were a caught insect.

"Now who to transfer it to," the old man said, seemingly speaking to himself. "Ah, yes." He seemingly paused, as if talking to someone. "That'll do..."

"Let go!" Korra grunted. She flexed her arms, but the web of purple seemed to only tighten in response. Any time she made headway, the webs would pull her arms back to the original position she was caught in.

Korra's eyes grew heavy. She couldn't mutter so much as a cry of protest before her consciousness threatened to escape.

She didn't know if it was through sheer force of will or not, but she managed to stay awake.

The old man sneered, finally showing signs of strain, which seemed to surprise him. "You're more resilient than I thought..."

Korra still could not move, attempting fruitlessly to break free. She could feel as if something was exiting her body. As if something were escaping her body and _she _was exiting her body at the same time. "W-what did you do to me?" she demanded, sagging against the otherworldly restraints.

"If I could simply kill you I would," the man spat, weaving his arms in some strange pattern. "Until I have the strength to end the cycle completely..." The man stood still and smiled. "This will do."

Korra's eyes widened upon seeing..._something _being drawn out of her. It was of a blue hue, and it vaguely looked like a person.

Was that her spirit? The vague shape seemed to resemble her, and as it gazed upon her, the same look of confusion was on its face.

"What the..." Korra and the blue mirror said at the same time. Suddenly, the shape that looked like her was pulled from her. Korra's perspective suddenly shifted and she was looking at her own sagging form as it collapsed next to her still frozen friends.

Before she could even ruminate on the strange display, her "body" or whatever the blue shape that she was now inhabiting seemed to be getting forcefully pulled in random directions. Her view was constantly changing angles; the sky was suddenly the ground, the ground was suddenly above her head. Buildings past by her at breakneck speed as some cosmic force guided her without her consent. The impressively large Inner Ring blocking passage toward the Earth King's palace zoomed towards her and she flinched, fearing this would be where her life would be cut short.

Fate had other plans, however.

She phased right through the wall. She phased through every solid object in her way, in fact. As if she were a ghost with no motor control, she sped through the busy streets like an uncontrolled arrow, no doubt the hapless civilians thinking that a gust of cold air had past them.

...

_Korra could tell that she was again in some sort of dream-like state. She was surrounded by darkness. Impenetrable and uncaring darkness. Thankfully she could see her own body clearly, as odd as it looked. While everything was steeped in the deepest of shadows, her own form was visible as if she were in a well lit room._

_"I do not need this right now," Korra muttered in tired resignation. She's already had her life changing dream experience._

_She sighed, wondering what the universe wanted to show her this time._

_Then again, Hundun had did something, she remembered. This put her senses on edge, and now she began to walk, arms poised for a sudden ambush. As soon as she blinked, the scenery changed._

_Suddenly she was in a room she didn't recognize. The room was covered in reddish tints and gold accents. There was a vanity in one corner, a mirror lying atop it. Korra blinked at the sight. She was never really one for makeup, so it was odd seeing one._

_To her left was a much too large bed, already made. The sheets were red just like pretty much everything else in the room. The bed looked large enough to hold three people comfortably, though the room looked like it was for one occupant._

_"Fire Nation?" Korra asked aloud, palming the walls and trailing a finger along the gold accents decorating it. Belatedly, she realized her clothing was different._

_Frowning, she backtracked to the vanity, resting her palms on the table._

_Fire Nation armor, indeed. It was ornate too, by the looks of it. And her was done up in a topknot, with a loose bang framing either side of her face._

_She didn't recognize the hairstyle. The strange hairpin, however, drew her attention as she studied her hair._

_Then the darkness returned and it felt like her consciousness was being pulled elsewhere._

_..._

"-la, are you there?" a strange voice seemed to enter suddenly into her range of hearing.

Korra groaned, a mild pain in her head as she attempted to sit up.

"Woah, take it easy, you just woke up," the same voice instructed. It was soft, and sounded pleasant enough that it didn't immediately ring any alarm bells in Korra's mind that she didn't know who the voice's owner was.

She opened her eyes, briefly observing that she was able to open them with no issue.

And she shot up, much to the protest of the girl hovering over her.

Korra was about to ask if everyone was okay before she realized that she didn't recognize the woman in front of her.

Korra attempted to think back on what Hundun said. Something about one of the Avatar's enemies? She couldn't seem to put in proper context what might have been the ramblings of an evil, senile old man.

"I'm fine..." Korra spoke, immediately realizing her voice wasn't her own. Hiding the shock, she instead looked around, studying her surroundings.

"I didn't see you faint, but we heard a crash a few hours ago," the woman volunteered.

Korra returned her gaze to the girl next to her. She looked like she might have been a year or two younger than her, if it was someone she had met in her own time. She wore a pink uniform, something that looked like a dancer would wear.

She smiled nervously at Korra's seemingly intense staring.

"You probably knew that already," the girl said, as if attempting to placate her.

"Fainted?" Korra asked, still unsure of why her voice sounded so different.

"It's probably stress," another voice cut in. It sounded calm, almost bored.

"We are in the middle of Ba Sing Se...Maybe we should take today off?" came the suggestion.

Korra looked to her left, spotting another teenager standing next to the door, idly spinning some sort of blade in her hand.

While the first girl she woke up to see gave the impression of positivity, the woman standing next to the doorframe was much more subdued.

Korra was silent as she mulled over her options. The other two spoke to her as if she knew them. She didn't want to cause a scene by questioning who they were either.

_Where is Team Avatar?_ came her final thought. Whatever had happened, she needed to return to them.

"Excuse me for a moment," Korra said in way of a reply, getting up from the bed to search for a bathroom. Once finding one, she slide the panel closed, affording her privacy. A mirror stood in front of her and she examined it.

A stranger looked back at her, mirroring whatever expression she had on her face. Namely, confusion.

It was the same hairstyle she remembered from that strange dream.

"Who is this?" she whispered harshly to herself as she toyed with this stranger's hair.

She had no idea who this was.


	9. Chapter 9 -Change of Perspective, Part 2

Korra touched her, or rather, Azula's (according to the two girls) face. As irrational as the thought was, she imagined that this stranger's face would morph into her own if she examined it long enough.

She sighed, an irritable exhale of breath, staring hard at her reflection. Of course that wouldn't work. She studied her new reflection, noting how her neutral expression gave the impression that she looked either annoyed or contemplative.

The woman's irises were an intense gold, and the eyes themselves had a bit of a slant to them, lending to the ethnic features most Fire Nation natives held.

These eyes in particular seemed to pierce right through her and she was forced to divert her attention after the extended staring. Instead she focused on other features. Korra remembered the hairstyle from her dreams. Idly, she touched the bangs framing either side of her temples and pressed her fingers against parts of her face.

"Man, this skin is flawless..." Korra whispered unbelievingly. She couldn't find even the faintest trace of a blemish or even the smallest sign of dirt. The hair was smooth to the touch and Korra felt the smallest pang of envy. It didn't take a genius to know that whoever this was took great care of their body.

When Korra got this sorted out, she would need to find out what skin treatments this person used.

If she could even figure out how to fix this predicament...

"Focus," Korra self-coached, mindful once again of her changed voice. Closing her eyes, she breathed in deeply and exhaled, imagining the stress rolling off of her. On a more serious note, it was obvious she was stuck in the body of someone of importance. Eventually, she'd have to find out who this was.

Looking around, Korra observed her surroundings.

So she was in what appeared to be an Earth Kingdom residence. The motif consisted of a lot of earthy browns and greens, with the occasional grey. She looked out the window situated to the left of the mirror.

Outside was the city of Ba Sing Se. She was apparently on an upper floor, because she could see dozens of people at a time, the size of small insects, as they walked from one destination to another. Farther down the horizon, the massive inner ring that ran all the way from one end of her vision to the other, dominated the landscape.

Korra breathed a sigh of relief. What the gloomy girl in the other room said was true. It seemed as though she were still in the city. That meant that Team Avatar shouldn't be too far from her current location.

Where was she last? Korra rested a delicate chin on her thumb and forefinger, pacing back and forth. To any outsider, she gave off the impression of someone who was calculating three steps ahead.

In reality, she had no idea how to proceed, except simply try to rendezvous with the team.

She was at the outer wall, she could recall, before being attacked by the old man...

And now she was apparently in the body of some fire nation woman.

"Weren't the fire nation still...unwelcome in other territories?" she asked herself aloud. How was she within the inner ring of all places? Were the two girls in the other room spies of some sort for the Fire Nation?

Korra shook her head. Well, it didn't matter if they were or not. Involving bystanders, even unintentionally, would be reckless, just by the simple nature of her mission.

She'd have to find a way to ditch them.

Korra stepped out of the room and back into the commons room. Korra thought she might have slipped away for too long, but neither of her two new roommates commented on it. Gloomy girl was by the window, idly spinning a blade between her fingers.

The cheery one was looking out the same window from the bed, resting on her torso, all the while her body was contorted in such a way that her feet nearly touched her back. It looked effortless for her and all Korra could do was blink.

Korra mentally chided herself for not having thought of anything to immediately say upon entering the room.

Korra coughed, crossing her arms, drawing the other two girls' attention.

"About that day off you mentioned? Sure, let's do that."

Mai and Ty Lee exchanged what looked to be a disbelieving glance.

"Really..?" Gloomy girl drawled, an eyebrow raised in suspicion. Korra coughed, but she doubted her cover was blown. It's not like they would be able to discern the truth of what happened to their friend. Fleetingly, she hoped whoever the original owner of this body could be was okay.

Cheery girl saved her from having to answer.

"Thank you, Azula!"

So that's what the name of the person she had somehow possessed was.

She had no idea who that was.

"See, Mai, we'll be able to do some exploring before our mission!" cheery girl said, effortlessly shifting into a handstand, then dismounting from the bed to land safely on her feet.

Korra wanted to whistle but thought better of it.

The gloomy one, Mai, finally shrugged, seemingly aloof. Her expression hadn't changed much from the eyebrow raise, save settling back to a neutral expression.

"Well then, I'm going to go see about getting a massage," she ventured, getting up from the window. "You guys coming?"

"Sure, why not?"

Korra shook her head. "I'm going to do some exploring of my own," she replied, glancing out the window.

From where she stood, she could tell the outer wall was at least 2 miles out. If she wanted to catch up to the team, she'd have to be quick before they took off on Appa.

What was going on with her actual body right now? Was it unconscious? Did the person she somehow possessed now in control of _her _body? Korra suppressed the urge to shudder at the thought.

"Alright, Ty Lee, just don't draw the attention of too many guys," Mai said, a lightly reprimanding look aimed at the cheery girl. "I just want some peace and quiet..."

Ty Lee, as Korra knew her name to now be, smiled innocently, giggling. "Pfft, I'm just going to relax too!" she scoffed in mock offense.

With that, Korra excused herself, double checking in the restroom to be sure she wasn't wearing any fire nation clothing.

She was dressed in simple Earth Kingdom garb, although it looked of finer quality then she'd seen in the outer ring.

Without any issues, she was the first to leave the residence.

Korra looked around, attempting to gather her bearings and figure out the quickest route back to the outer wall. Vaguely, Korra realized she was much lighter on her feet and didn't run out of breath as quickly as she usually would. And that was saying a lot.

As she weaved through crowds of people, she tried to recall what Hundun had said to her before he cast his weird magic.

Something about becoming her own enemy. She still couldn't seem to decipher what it meant. Sure, she figured out she was unwittingly possessing someone of the fire nation. Historically, the Fire Nation tried to invade the other three nations.

But something about the line of thought seemed too...basic. It felt like there was more to it than that...but whatever it was, the concept escaped her.

"I'm guessing I can only firebend," Korra hypothesized, briefly examining her extensively manicured hands. She dropped it to her side and continued her walk.

Nearby was what looked like a shop or restaurant of some sort, so she made a beeline towards it.

The structure was constructed of earthy materials like everything else in the district, and was set apart from other buildings by a large relief carving of a dragon along the top of the entrance.

Admiring it for only a moment, Korra stepped inside. Her presence was announced by a rudimentary bell attached to the door by a thin rope.

If she was honest with herself, she wasn't quite sure why she had walked in the building in the first place. She told herself it was to get a lay of which direction she needed to go, but it was something else as well. As if whoever she was possessing knew something about the place.

Korra was aware that leaving your body was something one could do as The Avatar, but the continued thought that she controlled someone's very actions to this degree unsettled her. And she didn't know how to undo it.

In a random realization, Korra realized she hadn't checked to see if there was any money for the train back at that apartment.

Her musings were interrupted by a approaching footsteps from stairs.

"Welcome to the..." The oddly familiar voice said then quickly died.

Korra cleared her throat, not expecting such a reaction from the older man. He looked as if he was wary of her.

He seemed to squint before a relieved expression crossed his face.

"Sorry," the man apologized with a polite Iaugh. "I thought I recognized someone."

Korra could swear she'd seen the man before, hit by a wave of Deja Vu.

"I'm looking for the quickest way to the outer ring," she said, taking a seat in front of the serving counter.


	10. Chapter 10-Change of Perspective, Part 3

Sokka looked unimpressed at Toph's critique. "My joke wasn't _that _bad," he felt the need to defend. Katara and Aang tried to hold back a snort of laughter. He'd rolled his eyes at the lack of defense from the other two.

"Korra, what do you think?" Sokka turned to her. Momentarily confused, he happened to look down, seeing their new friend suddenly comatose on the ground. Everyone present except Toph, gasped.

The Earth King neared the group, concern on his face. "Is the young lady okay?"

"What the-" Katara, and Aang noticed merely seconds after he did, all of them crowding around her. Toph neared the group, trying to figure out what they were looking at.

"Guys? What's going on? What happened?"

"I don't know..." Katara answered, examining the other water tribe girl for any apparent injuries. "She just...collapsed." Katara gingerly repositioned Korra, checking for a reopened wound of any kind.

"Do you think it's from those injuries she got from Long Feng?"

"I guess I can't rule it out...but that should have been healed..." Katara diagnosed. Carefully, Katara shifted Korra's shirt, asking the men of the group to look away for a moment. They complied without hesitation.

"Okay, she's decent," Katara announced. She sighed, and it was hard to tell if it was relief or trepidation.

"There doesn't seem to be anything wrong internally, at least."

"Flying isn't a good idea," Aang spoke up, kneeling to get a better look. "Not like this." Korra was unreaponsive, almost comatose, by the looks of it.

"Well, in the meantime, you're welcome to stay in the palace," the Earth King offered. He looked melancholy. "It's the least I could do, in light of recent events."

* * *

"I appreciate the hospitality..?" Korra ventured off, silently encouraging the elder across from her.

The owner of the Jasmine Dragon seemed to blink away his lapse in concentration.

"Ah, please. Call me Iroh."

Korra nodded. "Korra."

There was awkward silence between the two, after Iroh handed Korra a cup of tea. She took a few sips, savoring the taste. She regarded her drink for a moment, sure that she'd had it before. But she wasn't much of a tea person.

"Have we met before?" She blurted, a bit uncomfortable from the silence.

Iroh stroked his beard for a moment, seemingly studying her. His expression relaxed into something akin to relief before chuckling to himself.

"I don't think we have, Korra," he said. "You said you wanted to know the fastest way toward the outer ring?"

"Yeah...I need to find my friends, before it's too late. They're is someone I have to track down, before he does something dangerous."

Iroh seemed contemplative for a moment. "Hm...Forgive my forwardness, but I must ask..." He sat down on a stool across the counter from Korra. "You have been to the spirit world recently, have you not?"

The woman started at his declaration. "How did you..?"

Iroh smiled, but it seemed almost sad. "Let's just say I can recognize certain things from certain people." He took a sip of his own tea, sighing softly. "Also, your spirit looked imbalanced."

"That's a way to put it," Korra agreed.

"No, I mean literally," Iroh corrected. My niece also has a fiery spirit, but it isn't nearly as restrained as yours is. Somehow, you switched bodies."

"Do you know a way to fix it?!" Korra nearly jumped out of her seat. This man already knew what part of her issue was. She thanked the universe for such a coincidence to happen.

"Slow down," Iroh calmed, raising his hands in a placating gesture. "I have no idea to resolve whatever happened to you."

"Oh," Korra answered, her shoulders sagging as she sat back down. "I'm trying to return to the Avatar and the rest of the crew," she decided to reveal. Iroh already was aware of her predicament. Perhaps he could help somehow. She knew she was taking a chance revealing this to a total stranger, but she had no other option at the moment.

Iroh was silent for a moment as he sipped his tea. "If anyone can possibly help you, it is the Avatar."

Korra was silent. That bit of news didn't really encourage her. If it was that easy, she could have figured it out by now. But her plan was to rendezvous with them anyway.

"You may want to head toward the palace," Iroh suggested. "I doubt the Avatar and his friends would leave you behind."

"The palace..."

Right before Hundun had attacked, they had successfully convinced the Earth King of Long Feng's treachery and the reality of the war. She was out in her current situation before she could find out if Aang convinced King Kuei to offer Ba Sing Se's support.

"You're right," Korra agreed, standing up from her seat again. "That has to be where they are." She smiled, bowing to Iroh. "Thank you for your help, , and for the tea," she said.h returned the bow before Korra quickly turned on her heels, heading back toward the inner ring.

Once Korra left, he closed his eyes, humming to himself.

Whoever that person was had switched bodies with Azula. But what was _Azula _doing in Ba Sing Se? It didn't bode well, he thought to himself. Azula would have no reason to be here than to subjugate the city somehow. "But how in the world would she do that?" Iroh asked himself. He knew Azula to be a master of military strategy and deception. The woman he'd seen earlier, seemingly wearing Azula's face, her spirit was completely distinct from Azula's own. What did all mean in the bigger scope of things?

His musings were interrupted by the creak of the wooden steps around the corner from his counter.

"Uncle? Is everything okay down there?"

Zuko neared the counter, gathering the ingredients for a pot of tea. He had a flint and stone in his hands, preparing to generate fire for the tea. Iroh smiled at the display and relieved that Zuko finally seemed to recover from his illness.

"I ran into an interesting stranger," Iroh said in answer. "She is looking for some lost friends." Iroh didn't mention she was looking for the Avatar, or that said person seemed to have possessed Azula.

Iroh smacked his forehead. The seemingly random gesture grabbed Zuko's attention. "Uncle?"

"Of course! If they see her, they might assume the worst and immediately attack her!"

"Uncle, what are you talking about?" Zuko had paused his tea making at this point, his focus completely on his Uncle's seemingly out of character ramblings.

Iroh rubbed his forehead. He hoped he wouldn't have to involve his nephew with the Avatar while they were in Ba Sing Se, but the fact that Azula was here somehow would cause him to be involved either way. He sighed.

"Nephew, your sister is here in Ba Sing Se."

Zuko's good eye widened. "Here?!" He looked away for a moment. "The Avatar must be here somewhere, then."

Iroh's shoulders sagged. "Perhaps," he replied. "Something is afoot, however." Spirits didn't just cause people to switch bodies. Something bigger was going on. He hoped the physical plane wasn't in danger somehow. He lived here, after all!

"Then we need to capture him before Azula does," Zuko said, misinterpreting Iroh's worry. "If she finds out we're here before we have the Avatar, we will be in more danger from the fire nation," he continued, his voice as low as a whisper by the time he'd mentioned his homeland. He ran upstairs to grab his Dao swords, Iroh watching, concern on his face. At this point, Zuko's mind was made up. Iroh wouldn't be able to dissuade him. While Zuko was going after the Avatar, he needed to make sure that stranger didn't get hurt.

"If only I had the time to make one more cul of tea."

* * *

The route back to the Inner Ring was easier than if she had to get all the way to the Outer Ring. The palace was already visible from where she stood, the high reaching staircase to the doors almost begging her to walk up to them.

"I should be able to get in if I tell them i'm with Aang." She sighed regardless. If only they had telephones at this time. She'd have been able to call ahead.

* * *

"She still hasn't woken up," Katara said. Aang frowned, observing their newest friend. Aang and Sokka helped to place her on one of the beds in the guest room given to them by Kuei. She was breathing slowly and normally, but she was still totally unresponsive.

"It could be spirit world related?" Aang asked, nearing the unconscious Korra.

"What are you doing?" Katara asked, curious. Aang didn't answer, slowly lifting one of Korra's eyelids. He jumped back nearly instantly with a cry of surprise.

"Aang?!" Katara held Aang's shoulders.

"Her eyes are glowing."

Aang and Katara shared a concerned look.

* * *

_A/N: Still working on this story. I'm open to suggestions, and am working to avoid mistakes I made in the first version I made, "Not in Time" _


	11. Chapter 11-Change of Perspective, Part 4

Ba Sing Se was as busy as far as the few weeks she could remember being here. The central plaza of the Earth King's palace dominated the Inner Ring's main square. Metal fencing separated the beginnings of the palace entrance from the city proper, with there being two guards standing sentry on either side of the entry door, which looked like it could be swung open. The guards themselves held a contradictory commanding and subdued presence. Though the color of their armor stood out over the regular guard, with their more liberal use of gold accents, the towering helmets with the plume of fiber that sat atop it added a feeling of mystery to them.

They definitely looked a lot more approachable than the Dai Li, nonetheless.

Korra breathed in through her nose and then exhaled, stepping confidently toward the gate where the two guards stood.

As she neared the gate, the two guards subtly changed the way they were standing. One foot somewhat behind the other at an angle and their fists held loosely in front of their waists. She recognized it as they being able to easily slip into an Earthbending stance without looking outwardly aggressive.

"State your business," the guard on the left ordered. The helmet and metal armor obscured whether or not he had a beard, but she could recognize a patch of hair directly under his lower lip.

"I-"

Before she could plead her case, she was pulled into a spin, and suddenly realized she was facing away from the two guards, her back to them.

"Azula, I thought you were going to relax today. You're staking out the Palace already?"

Korra turned to the girl who'd suddenly spun her around. It was that cheery girl from before, Ty Lee. She looked like she was concerned about something.

_Staking out? _Korra thought to herself. She looked at Ty Lee, confused. "Uh..." Korra hesitated for a second, not even sure what they were talking about. But how did Ty Lee even know where to find her? And if Ty Lee was here, where was the other girl, Mai?

"Uh, yes, that is what I was doing," Korra said deliberately, her voice fading. She very well couldn't try to get into the Palace now, with this girl following her around. So she gave up on that plan until she could find a way to lose her.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were with Mai?" Korra said, relieved that she could remember both of their names.

Ty Lee seemed to cringe at her statement, oddly enough, as if she was afraid she'd offended her somehow.

"I'm really sorry! I was trying to find a good spa, but every time we went to one, Mai's aura-"

Korra began to tune her out at this point, subtly looking back towards the palace entrance. The guards were no longer paying the two girls any attention, and were already observing the general crowd.

"Uh, Ty Lee," she said, interrupting the acrobat. The girl paused in her ranting.

"It's a day off, go enjoy yourself! I'll join you guys later, probably."

Ty Lee almost looked confused at her statement.

"Really?"

"Yes, really," Korra sighed mentally. Why did this body's voice sound so sarcastic every time it spoke? And she was doing it unintentionally.

"Well, alright," Ty Lee conceded, looking strangely happier than when she first arrived. "I'll go and try that Spa with Mai again- it's the one near the palace, with the badger mole statues next to it," she said, pointing past the palace. "You can't miss it."

Korra voiced her acknowledgement and Ty Lee made her exit, jogging toward the direction, she pointed at, a happy skip in her step.

Korra rolled her eyes with a exhausted exhale. "Ok, so I need to get in the palace," she said to herself. Maybe trying to talk to the guards was a bad idea. The person she was possessing seemed to be Fire Nation after all, and that would complicate things.

But then again, she was dressed in Earth Kingdom garb, and could probably get away with not being Fire Nation. And getting caught sneaking in wouldn't look good at all.

Forget it, walking up to the front entrance was her best option. She retraced her steps back to the entrance, and upon seeing her the guards fell back into that neutral stance of theirs. They hadn't spoken this time, so she took that as her cue to say something.

"I'm a friend of Avatar Aang's. We got separated earlier today and I need to meet back up with him."

The guards looked unimpressed, for some reason. "All of the Avatar's companions are accounted for," the one on the left said. The other guard nodded once.

"Buzz off," he ordered, much less subtly than the first guard. Korra resisted the urge to facepalm. "No, I'm really part of the group-"

The guards took a step forward, and Korra stopped mid-sentence, sighing. "Nevermind."

So walking up to the entrance was a total bust. With disappointment hanging over head like a dark cloud, she stepped over to one of the main roads that ran parallel to the palace.

Hundun made it so easy to take her out of the fight with some stupid mind magic and she couldn't fight her way out of this one with a fire kick or an tremor stomp. She could at least still firebend- she could feel the chi in her stomach flaring as usual, but that was it. She felt no connection to the Earth or her native water element.

Hundun gave old people a bad name. Licking a loose stone on the road, she sighed. She had no idea what happens historically in this period of time, and she hoped she wasn't making things worse by being stuck in the body of a random villager or citizen.

She could really use some spirit guidance right now.

She wished she could talk to that old man she met in the Spirit World, but that was definitely impossible right now.

The only thing left was to go to the Spa. She very well couldn't attack the palace all by her lonesome, without looking like some foreign spy or something, and she would get nowhere and probably be in a worse spot than before.

She sighed as she turned toward the direction Ty Lee had pointed out.

She hoped her body would be okay until she figured this out.

* * *

Azula stirred groggily, and her throat felt parched. Squinting her eyes, she forced her eyes open, and one of her hands found it's way to her temple, attempting to massage the throbbing sensation.

Once her vision cleared, she could see that she was no longer in the Apartment with Mai or Ty Lee. The decor in this room was vastly different from where she was. Instead of the modest trappings of middle class residents, there was an extreme surplus of fabrics and curtains that vaguely reminded her of her room in the palace.

She made to rub her eyes before pausing.

What was this? Why did her hand look like...

Looking past her hand, she belatedly noticed she wasn't even wearing the Earth Kingdom tunic she'd took great care to procure.

She had what looked like...a parka, tied around her waist. And her torso was covered in some blue tunic in a weaving style she was completely unfamiliar with. But what stood out the most was her complexion.

That definitely wasn't hers, unless she forgot about recently getting a 12-hour sun tan.

She pulled herself off of the bed, finding that their was a slight tightness in her chest, it felt like some sort of old injury.

Before she uncharacteristically freaked out, first thing first.

She needed to get a lay of where she was, and why she didn't look like herself.

So she fell back on what made sense and what she could control at the moment.

With observation, she saw that the room was massive, close to the size of her room in the palace. A lot of the greens and browns she saw in the temporary apartment she'd gotten with Mai and Ty Lee was replaced with greens and golds, marking it as a high income structure.

There was one door leading to another room, possibly to the main area of the building. She made her way through, stumbling initially, and kept a steadying hand on the wall.

Could this be some sort of lucid dream? The sensations felt all too real though, and didn't have any sort of sign that things seemed out of place, besides the obvious fact that she didn't quite look how she was supposed to.

Gettting through the doorway, she found herself in a long hallway, which contained numerous doors parallel to the one she just vacated.

"Is this the Palace?" she asked herself in a whisper, idly noting that her voice was also out of place. It sounded the slightest bit huskier in pitch and sounded nothing like her own. She didn't like it.

Azula took a deep breath, and the feeling of vertigo subsided. Pushing herself off the wall, she thought of what to do next. If she kept on her route, she would probably find the exit. There were small coffee tables sitting in front of the hallway's walls every few paces or so, and one in particular had a sizable mirror. Studying it, she headed towards it, some feeling of nervousness settling in as to what she would see.

Could it be the work of spirits? She didn't really believe in them though. Her kooky uncle spoke of them all the time, but she simply marked that as him going senile in his old age.

She reached the mirror, nearly blanching at what she saw.

This definitely wasn't her. The reflection that looked back at her mirrored her expression, further disturbing her. The hair was terribly unkempt, in some style she wouldn't even be caught dead having her own done in. Two tails of hair hung in front of her ears, binded in jewelry that looked like Water Tribe markings. Her face looked like it exuded a sort of confidence and Azula found herself moving her head in different directions, studying it.

Was this that peasant waterbender that was tagging along with the Avatar? No, it couldn't be. Whoever this was looked older than herself and that peasant.

She had no idea who this was.

She sighed to herself. Finding out who this was was a dead end, and she would need to find Mai and Ty Lee.

Taking over Ba Sing Se was quickly becoming secondary.

"Hey, Korra, you're up already?"

Azula recognized the voice as belonging to the brother to the waterbender, Sokka.

Schooling her expression, Azula took an imperceptible breath. She turned around, and yes, it was the Water Tribe warrior.

"How are you holding up?" He asked. "Yiu kind of fainted suddenly, and we chalked it down to Spirit World shenanigans." Sokka folded his arms. "Aang's seekng if he can figure out what happened."

Sokka may not have known it, but he just assisted her with critical information.

So, this "Korra" person is apparently a friend of their crew of misfits and according to Sokka, spirits were indeed involved, although she had misgivings about the latter information; not that she could disprove it...

"I feel okay, thanks," Azula replied, guessing at how this Korra would talk, based on what she could guess from studying the mirror. Sure of herself, confident, really a lot like herself. She didn't have to fake too much of her speech pattern. "My rib's just a bit achy. Besides that, I'm fine," Azula folded her arms, leaning back against the wall. "What exactly happened?"

Sokka shrugged. "You're guess is as good as mine. We got Long Feng arrested, literally the next second, you were unconscious."

Long Feng? Azula remembered that there was a high official in Ba Sing Se by the name. So he had been arrested?

Azula filed that information away for later. While it was useful to know, she couldn't act on it without figuring out what happened to herself and why she was currently "Korra".

She looked past Sokka at the tapestry hanging behind him on the wall. It depicted Badgermoles and humans Earthbending.

"In the meantime, I'm going to go for a walk," she sighed, hoping she sounded like she was tired. "Maybe it'll help clear my head."

"You probably should. I'll let everyone else know you went out for a bit."

"Thanks!" Azula said sweetly, before politely excusing herself.

* * *

Soon afterwards, Sokka arrived back to one of the rooms Earth King Kuei allowed them to use. He and Aang shared one room, while Katara and Toph shared the adjacent one.

While the house they had in the middle ring was larger, the rooms here felt homely. Maybe it was because it was the Palace. It was the first time he'd been in a filthy rich person's house, so maybe palace rooms were great by default.

Opening the door, he saw Aang hanging upside down from his personal bed, arms splayed lazily on the ground.

Sokka arched a brow. "New way to meditate?"

Aang sighed, no sign of movement except the slow rise and fall of his chest as he breathed in.

"I tried speaking to Roku, but I don't think they know what's going on, either." Aang looked over at Sokka, still not bothering to get up from what Sokka though looked like an uncomfortable position. "They said the Spirit World feels off, but they don't know why."

"Besides the obvious 'Two Avatars' thing?" Sokka asked, sitting down at the foot of the bed and lying back, folding his hands behind his head.

"Yeah, besides that."

Sokka hummed in thought. Well, guess they'd have to figure that out some other time. He figured Aang would want to hear some good news by now.

"Korra's awake," he announced. He heard shifting and looked to his side to see Aang had finally gotten up.

"That's great!" the young airbender stretched his back, seemingly getting links out of his neck. Maybe that position _was _uncomfortable. "If she's feeling better, we can go by the library, see if they have anything on Spirit World stuff."

"Sounds like a good idea. She went to go for a walk though, might need to give her an hour or two," Sokka paused, wondering if he should say what he was thinking. Aang seemed to pick up on his hesitance.

"Something happened?" The Avatar asked, plopping down onto the bed next to him.

"Not necessarily, it just seems like something's off about Korra since she woke up."

"Well, she did faint."

"Yeah," Sokka agreed. "But, before I spoke to her, I saw her staring at the mirror out in the hall, like she didn't know what she was looking at," Sokka shrugged as much as he could from the position he was in. "And she seemed to talk a bit differently, too, like a bit more 'proper', if that makes sense?"

Aang shrugged carelessly. "Spirit World side effects maybe."

Sokka remembered suddenly having a full bladder when he returned from the spirit world. "Yeah, you're probably right."


End file.
